New York Islanders (27-15-4 58pts) v. Washington Capitals (27-14-5 59pts)
Game Recap:
The Washington Capitals , who are looking to end their three game losing streak, did not start well when Nicklas Backstrom would take a hooking penalty 10 seconds into the game. However the Capitals would kill the New York Islanders first opportunity. Then after some back and forth, Tom Wilson would draw a tripping call to give the Capitals their first powerplay opportunity, which had some good looks, but could not convert. Both teams would generate some good chances, but both Braden Holtby and Thomas Greiss would stand tall in net.
To start the period, the Capitals would draw a penalty 57 seconds into the second period, however, they would not generate much with the opportunity. After a lot of back and forth, Nic Dowd would take a late tripping penalty, but with some key blocks by Brooks Orpik the Capitals were able to kill the penalty.
The Capitals would start the period rocky as they had trouble maintaining the puck, and turnovers were a plenty. As a result Josh Bailey would tip in a Mathew Barzal point shot to get the Islanders the first goal of the game. Then not that long after, Cal Clutterbuck would score to make it 2-0 for the Islanders while on a 2 on 0 break. The Capitals, however, would never recover and drop their fourth straight game, and falling in the Metropolitan Division standings.
Lineups:
New York Islanders:
Anders Lee — Brock Nelson — Jordan Eberle
Anthony Beauvillier — Mathew Barzal — Josh Bailey
Michael Dal Colle — Valtteri Filppula — Leo Komarov
Matt Martin — Casey Cizikas — Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy — Johnny Boychuk
Adam Pelech — Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews — Scott Mayfield
Thomas Greiss
Robin Lehner
Scratched: Ross Johnston, Luca Sbisa, Tom Kuhnhackl
Injured: Thomas Hickey (upper body), Andrew Ladd (lower body)
Washington Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly
Chandler Stephenson — Nic Dowd — Devante Smith-Pelly
Michal Kempny — John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik — Jonas Siegenthaler
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched: Travis Boyd, Madison Bowey, Dmitrij Jaskin
Injured: Christian Djoos (thigh)
First Period:
Capitals Penalty – :10 – Nicklas Backstrom 2 minutes for Hooking
Islanders Penalty – 8:17 – Casey Cizikas 2 minutes for Tripping
End of 1st – NYI – 0 WAS – 0
Shots 11 07
Faceoffs 10 07
Hits 08 08
PP 0/1 0/1
Second Period:
Islanders Penalty – :57 – Adam Pelech 2 minutes for Holding
Capitals Penalty – 16:13 – Nic Dowd 2 minutes for Tripping
End of 2nd – NYI – 0 WAS – 0
Shots 20 15
Faceoffs 20 12
Hits 12 13
PP 0/2 0/2
Third Period:
Islanders Goal – 5:08 – Josh Bailey (11) from Mathew Barazl (31) and Adam Pelech (6)
Islanders Goal – 7:34 – Cal Clutterbuck (4) from Casey Cizikas (9) and Adam Pelech (7)
End of 3rd – NYI – 2 WAS – 0
Shots 25 19
Faceoffs 25 21
Hits 18 20
PP 0/2 0/2
Next Up:
Washington (27-14-5 59pts) @ Chicago (4-1-0 8pts)
NY Islanders (27-15-4 58pts) v. San Jose (2-2-1 5pts)
