For the fifth time in six games in this series the Islanders
opened the scoring. This time it came
less than seven minutes into the game when John Tavares collected a loose puck
just outside the Capitals’ blue line, skated into the Caps’ zone, backing off
defenseman John Carlson. He then cut to the middle and fired a shot across his body
that caught goalie Braden Holtby leaning the wrong way as the puck sailed short
side to give the Islanders the 1-0 lead.
That lead held up for most of the rest of the period, through
two Washington power plays. However, the third power play in the period proved
to be the charm for the Caps just before intermission. John Carlson started and ended the scoring
play. He started it by sending a long
pass from his own end to Troy Brouwer at the Islanders’ blue line. Brouwer skated in and snapped a shot that
goalie Jaorslav Halak stopped but could not control. The puck bounced out to Alex Ovechkin in the
left faceoff circle, and he found Carlson drifting in on the right side. From the top of the right wing faceoff circle
Carlson let fly with a shot that beat Halak with just 4.3 seconds left in the
period.
That did it for the scoring until the third period when the
Islanders broke through. John Tavares
skated into the Capitals’ zone and carried the puck deep. He was met behind the Caps’ goal line by
Ovechkin and Karl Alzner, who separated him from the puck. Ovechkin searched for the puck, but it slid
around the boards to Nick Leddy along the left wing wall. He found Nikolay Kulemin darting down the
middle, and when Kulemin took the pass he had only Holtby to beat. He took Leddy’s pass and curled the puck
around Holtby’s right pad to give the Islanders the lead they would not
relinquish with 9:27 left.
Cal Clutterbuck added an empty net goal with 52.6 seconds
left to send the Islander fans home happy and with a winning memory of what
could be their last visit to Nassau Coliseum, the Islanders winning by a 3-1
margin and forcing a Game 7 on Monday night in Washington.
Other stuff…
-- In the post-2005 lockout era, this was the third time
that the Caps lost a Game 6 on the road with an opportunity to close out the
series. In the other two instances –
against Montreal in 2010 and against the New York Rangers in 2013 – the Caps
lost Game 7 at home.
-- This was the third time in the series in which the Caps
outshot the Islanders (39-38), the first of those games that the Caps lost.
-- Alex Ovechkin was on ice for all four goal scored in the
game. That, of course, is not a good
thing in that he was on ice for all three goals against.
-- The Caps had a 40-33 edge in the faceoff circle, but that
is somewhat deceiving. Jay Beagle
accounts for the margin, going 15-for-19 (78.9 percent).
-- Evgeny Kuznetsov had six shots on goal, giving him 13 in
his last two games and 20 for the series.
He is second to Ovechkin (27) in shots on goal.
-- Tom Wilson, who has been a physical presence in this
series, skated only seven shifts and 3:41 in this game. A third of that came on one shift in the
second period (1:12).
-- This was the first time that the Capitals scored a power
play goal in a playoff game and lost since they dropped a 3-2 overtime decision
to the New York Rangers in Game 5 of the 2012 Eastern Conference semifinals, a
game in which they went 1-for-4 with the man advantage. The Caps had gone five straight games with a
win when scoring a power play goal.
-- Despite the loss, Braden Holtby’s save percentage inched
up ever so slightly. Saving 35 of 37
shots (.946 for the game) left him at .945 in five games in the post season,
fourth in the league.
-- John Carlson had 11 shot attempts for the game to lead all
players for both teams. He is fourth
among NHL defensemen in shots on goal in the post season (17).
-- The Caps killed the only Islander power play they faced,
making them 13-for-13 in this series, the only team to have a perfect penalty
kill in the first round.
In the end...
If practice makes perfect, the Capitals will come out on top
on Monday night. They will be playing
their eighth Game 7 in the last eight years, their sixth on home ice. Of their previous five Games 7 on home ice
they have won just once, riding a late Sergei Fedorov goal over the glove of
Henrik Lundqvist to beat the Rangers, 2-1, in 2009. In the other four games the Caps were
outscored by a 16-5 margin.
The Caps get a chance to drive a stake through the heart of the demon who
made their lives miserable in one of those Games 7 – Jaroslav Halak -- who beat
the Caps in Game 7 of the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinal as a member of the
Montreal Canadiens. The Caps will not
have a grizzled veteran such as Sergei Fedorov to lead them in that quest. No, this one is on the players who studied at
the master’s knee when they beat the Rangers back in 2009. It is their turn as veterans to lead now. For Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom,
their time has come. We will see if they
are up to that challenge.