Caps and Isles in Saturday Night Showdown
The last two games between the Capitals and Islanders have produced a total of one goal in 125 minutes of hockey
Two nights after the Caps scratched out a 1-0 shootout win over the Islanders in New York, the two teams will meet for the fourth and final time this month at NYCB Live on Saturday night. The Saturday night showdown is also the middle match of three straight games between the Capitals and the Islanders, who will conclude their season's series on Tuesday night in Washington.
Although they haven't scored in their last 145-plus minutes of hockey in the venerable Long Island barn, the Caps came away with two points on Thursday, winning for the first time in three games here this season and this month. The Isles and Caps have traded 1-0 victories in their last two meetings here; New York won 1-0 in regulation on a Brock Nelson goal in the third period on April 6 and the Caps returned the favor in the shootout on Thursday.
Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves to earn his second shutout of the season and the third of his NHL career, getting the victory when Evgeny Kuznetsov beat ex-Caps goaltender Semyon Varlamov in the shootout. Samsonov's Thursday night whitewash is the first 1-0 shootout shutout in Washington's franchise history, and the first in the NHL since L.A.'s Jonathan Quick turned the trick against Toronto on March 5, 2020.
The win enabled the Caps to stay in the catbird's seat of the top-heavy East Division standings in which four points separate the top four clubs in the division. On a night when both Pittsburgh and Boston also won, it was clutch for the Caps to find a way to get two points. They did so without scoring any goals, but they played an extremely strong final 45 minutes.
"I probably like best that were in the offensive zone," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "It's very difficult to generate those chances if they're playing defense. We spent way too much time in our end in the first period - chances were heavily in their favor in the first period - and then I thought it flipped for the last 40 minutes. in the show.
"I think from a speed standpoint and an execution standpoint, that was really the majority of our problem in the first period. And because of that, we end up with zone time and high danger chances coming against us. And when that flipped, the game seemed to flip as well."
Going into Thursday's game, the Islanders were the NHL's second highest scoring team on home ice, with an average of 3.65 goals per home game, trailing only Colorado (3.83). New York also allows the fewest goals per home game, a figure that dipped to 1.96 goals per game after Varlamov blanked the Caps for a second straight time on Thursday.
"We know as a team they play pretty tight defensively," says Washington winger Conor Sheary. "And obviously in this building they have a really good record. They just know how to play here, and there's not a lot of space out there a lot of times, so when you do get your chances, you've got to bear down and put them in, put them away. I think we've had our looks these last couple of games here, we just haven't been able to capitalize. Hopefully this coming one will be able to break through and score."
The Islanders are 19-2-3 on home ice this season, and Thursday's win by the Capitals in the shootout is the first by a road team in six games between Washington and New York this season. The last couple of contests have absolutely had that playoff feel to them where one gets the sense that a sudden bounce or mistake is going to make the difference in the game for one side or the other.
"Obviously we played really well in the first and they came back in the second and had a push," said Islanders winger Anthony Beauvillier," who scored the Isles' lone shootout goal on Thursday. "It was kind of a weird game with power plays and [penalty kills] and stuff, but it was just like a playoff game and the playoff mentality we had and they had. There was not a lot of space out there. I thought we played well and they played well and it just comes down to a shootout loss for us."
"I feel like anytime you play the Washington Capitals - especially us - it's a playoff game, Said Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy in the wake of Thursday's game. "They're fun games to be part of; they're exciting. I think both teams had quite a few chances but both goalies were amazing tonight."
