The Washington Capitals wrapped up the 2014 portion of their
2014-2015 season last night by storming back from a 3-0 third period deficit to
tie the New York Islanders before falling in overtime, 4-3, in their final game
before their New Year’s Day meeting with the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL
Winter Classic.
The Caps fell behind, 3-0, allowing goals in three different
situations – an even strength goal by Anders Lee in the ninth minute of the
first period, a power play goal by Lubomir Visnovsky mid-way through the second
period, and a shorthanded goal by Calvin de Haan less than two minutes into the
third period.
Washington started their comeback three minutes after the
Islanders’ third goal when Eric Fehr won a faceoff against John Tavares in the
offensive zone to the right of goalie Jaroslav Halak. Jack Hillen collected the puck and skated
down the left wing wall, throwing the puck to the Islanders net where Brooks
Laich and Fehr were converging. Laich
managed to take a swat at the puck, Halak making the initial save. However, Fehr was left alone at the top of
the crease, and he batted the rebound past Halak to make it 3-1 at the 4:40
mark.
The Caps crawled within a goal less than two minutes
later. De Haan tried to keep the puck
under control outside the Caps’ blue line but lost the battle to Alex
Ovechkin. Skating up the right side, the
Islanders’ Travis Hamonic tried to sweep the puck off Ovechkin’s stick, but all
he got was air. It created an opening in
the middle that Nicklas Backstrom filled, and Ovechkin hit him in stride with a
pass. Backstrom broke in alone on Halak
and snapped the puck over Halak’s glove to make it 3-2 with 6:29 gone in the
period.
Washington tied the game late in the period starting with
another faceoff win. Backstrom beat
Casey Cizikas on the draw to Halak’s right, pulling the puck back to
Ovechkin. From the top of the left wing
circle, Ovechkin took a step to his right and fired a wrist shot that beat
Halak to the long side with just 2:41 left in regulation.
In overtime, with Evgeny Kuznetsov off on a double minor
penalty for high-sticking, Johnny Boychuk took a feed from Ryan Strome and with
the extra space afforded him by the 4-on-3 situation, took a slap shot that
beat goalie Braden Holtby to end the contest 2:53 into the extra session, the
Islanders coming out on top, 4-3.
Other stuff…
-- The loss made the Caps 8-1-3 in their 12-game march
through the Eastern Conference to end 2014.
The three losses in extra time left them with seven losses in overtime and
the Gimmick, tied for most in the Metropolitan Division.
-- The shorthanded goal allowed by the Caps was their first
such goal allowed this season, and they became the last team in the league to
have played a game with a shorthanded goal scored for or against. They remain one of four teams not to have
scored a shorthanded goal this season.
-- The Caps allowed two power play goals, including the
game-winner. It was the third time in
six games that Washington allowed two power play goals. It was the second time in three games that
the Caps allowed seven power plays (seven against the Rangers on December 23rd).
-- The Caps allowed 39 shots on goal, the second time in
four games that they allowed that many by the opposition (December 22nd
vs. Ottawa).
-- Perhaps it is worth noting that after Brooks Orpik went
down with a knee injury, the Islanders out-shot the Caps, 11-2, over the
remainder of the contest. They out-attempted the Caps, 16-4. Of course, the Islanders also had 5:57 in
power play time over that last 10:13 of regulation and overtime, too.
-- The 8-1-3 run to close 2014 is the best 12-game in-season
record for the Caps (19 standings points) since they closed the abbreviated
2012-2013 season with a 10-1-1 record (21 points).
-- With six shots on goal, Alex Ovechkin has registered five
or more shots in ten consecutive games (67 shots). Just those 67 shots in ten
games would rank him in a tie for 157th among 777 skaters having dressed this
season in the NHL.
-- Every Capitals skater was credited with at least on hit
except Jason Chimera, John Carlson, and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
-- The official scorer had an eye for theft. He or she credited the two clubs with a total
of 42 takeaways (18 by the Caps).
-- Allowing the game-winning goal on overtime puts the Caps
in some rare air in which they would rather not find themselves. Only Edmonton (five) and Colorado (six) have
allowed more overtime goals than the Caps (four).
In the end…
It would have been nice to end the year on a higher note,
given what the Caps accomplished this month.
Still, looking at the long view, an 8-1-3 record in 12 consecutive games
against Eastern Conference opponents is something to build upon in the new
year. Attention now turns to the hoopla
that is the Winter Classic, but let’s not forget that this is a game that
counts in the standings, and the Caps are only one point ahead of the New York
Rangers for third in the Metropolitan Division (the Rangers hold two games in
hand), while the Boston Bruins (two points back) and the pesky Florida Panthers
(three points back) lurk close by for a wild card spot. There is no resting on laurels in the NHL, no
matter how good a month you might have had.