Evgeny Kuznetsov got the Caps off on the right foot before
the game was five minutes old. Brooks
Orpik got the play started by sending a pass up to Justin Williams exiting the
defensive zone on the right side. From
the red line, Williams fed Kuznetsov charging down the middle. Splitting the Islander defense, Kuznetsov
ripped a shot from the high slot that beat goalie Thomas Greiss low on the
blocker side to make it 1-0 at the 4:41 mark.
That score would hold up until the second period when the
Islanders tied the contest on a power play.
Off a faceoff win in the offensive zone, the Islanders worked the puck
to Andrew Ladd, who rang a shot off the junction of the crossbar and post to
the far side of goalie Philipp Grubauer.
The puck ricocheted out to Grubauer’s left, where Alan Quine stuffed it
home at 2:41 of the period.
Ryan Strome gave the Islanders the lead 6:31 into the third
period. A drive went wide of Grubauer
and skittered behind the goal to the stick of Jay Beagle. He could not control it though, and gave it
up to Anthony Beauvillier. A pass across
to Strome was all that was left for the Islanders to finish the scoring play
off the turnover, and it was 2-1.
Johnny Boychuk added an empty net goal with 1:08 left to
make it 3-1, but the Caps made it a bit more interesting in the last minute as
Alex Ovechkin wired a shot from the top of the offensive zone past Greiss to
make it 3-2. Washington put pressure on
the New York net in the last half minute but could not get the equalizer,
taking their 11th regulation loss on the season.
Other stuff…
-- The power play goal scored by the Islanders made it five
straight games in which the Caps allowed a power play goal and eight games in
their last 11 contests.
-- Thomas Greiss has been very good of late in goal for New
York, but the Caps could have made things tougher on him by getting more pucks
on net. They put only half of their 60
total shot attempts on net.
-- Ovechkin’s late goal, his 24th of the season,
gives him 549 for his career and lifts him into a tie with Ron Francis for 27th
place all-time. Next up on the list is
John Bucyk with 556.
-- John Carlson returned to the lineup, but he was the only
defenseman not to record a shot on goal for the contest.
-- Evgeny Kuznetsov recorded a goal and an assist, his 11th
multi-point game of the season and the first one in which the Caps lost
(10-1-0). It was Kuzetsov’s tenth goal
of the season, giving the Caps eight ten-goal scorers and tying them with
Minnesota for most in the league.
-- The Caps had one power play opportunity, the sixth time
this season they were held to one or fewer power play chances. They are now 3-2-1 in those games.
-- Nicklas Backstrom had an assist to avoid going without a
point for his third straight game. He
has not gone three games without a point since Games 12-14 back in early
November.
-- Pending the results of the Los Angeles/Arizona game,
Ovechkin’s 24 goal lifted him into a tie for second in the league in goals
scored, trailing only Sidney Crosby (28).
-- Even though the Caps led for just 14 minutes and not at
all after the third minute of the second period, the ice time was rather evenly
distributed. Matt Niskanen led the team
with 22:30 of ice time, but just 14 minutes of that came after the first
period. No forward skated 20 minutes.
-- Philipp Grubauer did what a backup goalie has to do. He kept his team in the game, allowing a goal
off a rebound off the iron behind him and another off a turnover. Finishing with 26 saves on 28 shots faced
broke a personal streak of three games in which he allowed three goals in each.
In the end…
The Caps looked rested, smooth, and dangerous for 20 minutes. Then…plink.
The air went out of the balloon over the last 40 minutes, save for a
late flurry. And they did it to
themselves by playing an increasingly perimeter game while piling up the “Corsi’s
(they out-attempted the Isles at 5-on-5, 54-42; numbers from Corsica.hockey).” No one should be happy with this level of
effort, especially after a long break, but neither should it be a cause for
despair. The trick will be keeping it
from becoming two in a row tomorrow night against Boston.
