Holtby says Capitals have hit 'bottom' despite division-clinching win

Not everyone was celebrating after the Washington Capitals ensured themselves home ice in the playoffs Wednesday night.

Related: Capitals clinch Metropolitan Division, No. 1 seed in Eastern Conference

"We weren't the better team tonight, and that was pretty evident," goaltender Braden Holtby told reporters following a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators, according to Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post.

"Got some goals, finished early. It was kind of the opposite of what we've been doing lately (by having) a good start and (tailing) off (for) the rest of the game. I think we're all kind of sick of the way we've played at times (for) the last couple of months. You can tell it's starting to turn, just everyone's realizing we have kind of hit that bottom. Tonight, you could kind of tell. That's where we turn around now."

The Capitals had allowed the first goal in seven of their previous eight games, but they jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the first intermission Tuesday. The Senators made a game of it in the final 40 minutes, cutting the deficit to one before T.J. Oshie's empty-netter.

"We know we haven't played as well as we've needed to," Washington head coach Barry Trotz said. "We've got some work to do, there's no question. But we haven't played a real meaningful game for a while here."

Securing home-ice advantage doesn't mean much, as far as Nicklas Backstrom is concerned.

"It's nice to be a No. 1 seed in the East, but at the same time, it doesn't really matter, to be honest with you," the center said. "It's nice to start at home, but it's so tough. We've seen many times before that the No. 8 seed is as good as the No. 1 seed. ... We have 10 really important games. We haven't played our best hockey since after Christmas, so we have some areas we have to get better on and make sure we play a full 60-minute game."

The Capitals still hold the NHL's best record and goal differential by a comfortable margin, and haven't lost consecutive games in regulation all season.