"Worst effort I’ve seen" - Longtime Blues reporter dismisses showing against Capitals as the lowest point in two decades

The St. Louis Blues suffered an 8-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Saturday. The Athletic reporter Jeremy Rutherford, who has been covering the team for a long time, called the third period of this game the "worst effort" he has seen in 20 years. St. Louis were down 3-1 going into the third, but they gave up five more goals.

"I can’t explain how, on the heels of that, the third period of the Blues’ 8-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Saturday night at the Enterprise Center was the worst effort I’ve seen in 20 years of covering them."

Rutherford quoted St. Louis defenseman Justin Faulk who also shared a similar view.

"There are unacceptable performances, and there’s giving up. The Blues, who went into the third period trailing 3-1 and voluntarily cleared the way for the Capitals to tack on five more goals, gave up."

Alex Ovechkin led the Capitals with two goals, bringing his career total to 863, just 31 goals behind Wayne Gretzky. Connor McMichael, Jakob Chychrun, and Michael Sgarbossa also contributed in the Wasington’s big win. The Blues' defense and goaltending were poor, allowing eight goals on just 27 shots. St. Louis has now lost back-to-back games.

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Faulk and Brayden Schenn's comments on Blues’ loss to Capitals

After the Blues’ loss to the Washington Capitals, Faulk called the team’s third-period performance completely unacceptable.

"To be honest, I don't really have an answer for that," Faulk said of third-period goals per NHL.com."It's completely unacceptable. It's just not right. I don't think that should ever happen, a situation like that. We need to have respect for each other, the game. You can't just go out there and play summer hockey for a period and think that's alright at any point."

Faulk believes that every player should show effort, even when things aren’t going their way.

Captain Brayden Schenn was also disappointed. He said the team left goalie Binnington without support, especially in the third period.

"It boils down to effort" Schenn said, per NHL.com. "We let our goalie hang out to dry there in the third period and let them get eight. You can't sugarcoat it when you let in eight. It just boils down to being in a hockey game."

Schenn admitted allowing eight goals is unacceptable and that the team should keep fighting no matter the situation.