Capitals coach Adam Oates on Stars' fourth goal Tuesday: 'Ovi quit on the play coming back'

Washington Capitals head coach Adam Oates made an interesting comment in light of his team's 5-0 loss to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, calling out captain Alex Ovechkin for not giving a full effort on the fourth goal of the night, scored by Dustin Jeffrey.

"Ovi quit on the play," said Oates via Katie Carrera of the Washington Post, adding "just goes to show you you’ve got to hustle the entire time, the whole entire time.”

The play in question can be seen here:

[Courtesy: NHL.com]

As the Stars bring the puck into the zone on a rush, Ovechkin is nowhere to be found. In the slow motion replay, No. 8 can be seen skating rather lackadaisically into the defensive zone, picking up steam as the scoring chance has materialized but not in time to thwart it.

The loss kept the Capitals from picking up valuable points in the race for a playoff spot, and Ovechkin - much maligned for his plus-minus rating this season - dropped to a league-worst minus-36.

Ovechkin remains atop the league leader board with 48 goals, but has not registered an even-strength point since Feb. 27. With six games left on the schedule and with his team one point back of an Eastern Conference wild-card spot, Oates appears to be expecting much more from his captain.