Adam Oates suffers brutal NHL coaching debut

Welcome to NHL coaching, Adam Oates. He had six days to implement a new system with his Washington Capitals. He envisions a hybrid between Bruce Boudreau’s go-go style and Dale Hunter’s defensive-minded theme.The result in Game 1 was resounding 6-3 loss at Tampa Bay.Let’s look at what went wrong: The Capitals played terrible team defense. Miscommunication and poor positioning left lots of open lanes for the talented Lightning forwards to skate, pass and shoot. Poor discipline led to eight Capitals penalties and three power-play goals (in seven attempts) for Tampa Bay. Giving the Lightning an opportunity to operate 5 on 3 is never a good idea. Washington failed to connect on two early power-play opportunities. That allowed the Lightning to settle in and tilt the ice against the visitors. Conditioning was problematic for those Capitals who haven’t been playing. “Some of the mistakes came from conditioning. We got tired at times, the game went in waves,” Oates told the Washington Post...