Laviolette calls Capitals’ five-game home losing streak ‘unacceptable’

Fans attending Washington Capitals games recently have not been seeing the results they normally do. 

The team has struggled at Capital One Arena since December, but the home woes are worse now than they’ve been all season. The Capitals are losers of five straight at home, with their last win in the District more than three weeks ago.

Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said during his interview with 106.7 The Fan on Tuesday that the team’s performance at home is “unacceptable.”

“We’ve got to be better. Everybody. In situational play, in five-on-five play, the forward, the defense, the goaltending has not been good enough. It’s unacceptable. We’ve got to change that.”

Since the start of December, the Capitals are 5-9-2 at home. The team’s last non-overtime win at home was on Dec. 29 against Nashville. 

Some of the losses have come against some of the worst teams in the NHL, including Vancouver, San Jose and Ottawa — all of which are in the bottom three of their respective division standings. Washington’s most recent loss was a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Ottawa Senators.

“It’s disappointing being here in our building, in front of our fans. We’ve got to be better than that. We’ve got to win hockey games at home,” Laviolette said Sunday.

The Capitals are 12-10-5 at home this season. They’ve made up for their mediocre play in the District with a 14-5-4 mark on the road. 

After spending the first two months of the season as one of the top teams in the NHL, Washington (26-15-9) is now fourth in the Metropolitan Division with 61 points.