Nov. 11 vs. New York Islanders at UBS Arena
Time: 7:30 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
Washington Capitals (6-4-2)
New York Islanders (5-4-3)
The Capitals finish up a quick, two-game trip – in a set of back-to-backs – against fellow Metropolitan Division denizens on Saturday night when they make the first of two visits to UBS Arena to face the Islanders.
On Friday night in New Jersey, the Caps took a page out of the James Brown songbook, getting off on the good foot, both in the game against the Devils and in the two-game weekend tour of the New York metro area. Washington got goals from Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Beck Malenstyn on the same shift – 15 seconds apart, midway through the first period – and Evgeny Kuznetsov struck for another in the second, enabling the Caps to carry a three-goal lead into the third period for the first time this season.
“Our start especially [was good],” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery of Friday’s win in New Jersey. “I thought we were ready from that first shift. A great forecheck from Kuzy’s line, [Alex Ovechkin], [Tom Wilson]. That sort of set the tone right away.”
Playing the third period without defenseman Martin Fehervary, who departed midway through the second with a lower body injury, Caps then withstood a furious New Jersey surge in the third to claim a 4-2 victory. Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves – 22 of them in the final 40 minutes – to earn his second straight win.
“It was a good start,” says Kuznetsov. “But then we give up a couple of goals late in the third, so they were able to come back in that game. Eventually, we got the [win], that’s all that matters. And for us, it was very important to get the [win], especially on the first game of a back-to-back. The coaches will look at what went wrong, and we’re going to fix that part for sure.”
With center Nic Dowd back in the lineup for the first time since Oct. 13 and with Aube-Kubel recalled from AHL Hershey earlier in the day, the Caps finally had a fourth line that resembled the unit they’ve had over the last few seasons. That trio got them off to the swift start in Friday’s win.
On his third shift of the night, Aube-Kubel hopped over the boards, took a feed from Rasmus Sandin behind the New Jersey net, and pumped a one-timer past ex-Caps’ goalie Vitek Vanecek to give the Caps a 1-0 lead midway through the opening frame. On the same shift, Aube-Kubel set up Malenstyn 15 seconds later to double the Washington lead, chasing Vanecek to the bench in the process.
“Dowder comes in, and I thought he was excellent,” says Carbery. “He stabilizes that [line], you can deploy him in any situation. And then they chip in offensively as well, which they have the ability to do, while not sacrificing anything at the other end.”
Entering Saturday's game, the Caps are in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division, sandwiched between the third-place Devils and fifth-place Islanders, who they'll be seeking to keep in their rear view. With a victory over the Isles here tonight, the Caps could climb as high as a second-place tie with Carolina, pending the Hurricanes' Saturday night result. The Canes are on the road in Tampa.
Washington is 5-1-1 in its last seven games, and the lone regulation loss it suffered over that span came at the hands of the Islanders in D.C.
A week ago Thursday, the Islanders were in Washington, and ex-Caps goalie Semyon Varlamov notched the 40th shutout of his NHL career in a 3-0 Islanders victory. Since that contest, the Isles are winless in three games (0-2-1).
Most recently, the Islanders were on the short end of a 5-2 count against the Bruins in Boston on Thursday. New York also dropped home decisions to Carolina (in overtime) and Minnesota at home, respectively, earlier in the week.
Like the Capitals, the Isles have been favored by home cooking early in the season. Saturday’s game is the ninth home game for the Islanders in the team’s first 13 games, but New York is about to take to the road for a while. The Isles depart the area on Sunday; they open a four-game road trip on Monday night in Edmonton.
Starting with that game against the Oilers, the Islanders are on the road for eight of their next 10 games, with both home games coming later in the month against Philadelphia.
