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Washington’s Alzner blames media for PK struggles

New York Islanders v Washington Capitals

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 28: Karl Alzner #27 of the Washington Capitals takes a moment to clean his face shield during the game against the New York Islanders at the Verizon Center on February 28, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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The Washington Capitals have been pretty effective in the second round when it comes to killing penalties. That of course was not the case on Monday when they allowed the game-tying and game-winning goals on Joel Ward’s double-minor high-sticking penalty.

That might have altered the course of this series. Washington is just one loss away from elimination going into Game 6. So what happened?

“Couple people before the game asking us pregame skate about why our penalty kill has been so good,” Karl Alzner said. “And in my opinion they jinxed it.”

The awkward part is that he reportedly wasn’t kidding around either. So, um...sorry?

In all seriousness, the Capitals weren’t particularly remarkable when it came to killing penalties in the regular season, so maybe their earlier success against the Rangers was just an oddity. Or maybe, if everyone gets together and promises not to talk about Washington’s PK abilities in a positive light, they’ll be able to rebound.