To say Washington Capitals head coach Barry Trotz was displeased with his team’s 4-2 losing effort Friday would be an understatement. And he had no problem expressing his true feelings in a post-game press conference.

“I don’t think, right now, that we can say we’re a good hockey team right now. We can’t say that,” Trotz said. “I can say we’ve had flashes of (being a) good hockey team, and the guys will say ‘Hey, great third periods,’ but we don’t play our great hockey until we’re down and our backs are against the wall a little bit.

“We need to play playoff hockey.”

The Capitals have lost two straight games and six of their past nine, and sit just two points up on the Boston Bruins for the first of two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference – but Washington has played two more games.

Still, even after Friday’s loss, which saw goaltender Braden Holtby get pulled for the first time since Oct. 14, the Capitals are seven points clear of the nearest non-playoff team. With just a month’s worth games left, that’s a healthy cushion.

However, it’s still no comfort for Trotz, who’s worried his team’s play of late won’t be good enough to maintain their playoff position – or be good enough to carry them very far in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“Our game’s slipped here,” said Trotz. “The only way to fix it is to be more detailed, be diligent, and get your mind right. We’re looking for easy games to get to the playoffs and then we kick it up somehow, that’s how I feel. And there’s nothing easy in this league.

“You need everybody chipping in right now. We’ve got too many passengers. You can’t carry another guy on your back. This league is way too good. So, if there’s a guy next to you not pulling his weight, you can’t carry him. You either get rid of him or give him a shake and tell him to get on the bus and start traveling in the right direction. And that’s why there was probably a closed door meeting because I told them to fix it.”