Vanecek, Caps Blank Isles, 2-0

Last April, the Caps and the New York Islanders hooked up in a trio of 1-0 games, with the Isles winning the first of them and the Caps winning the final two in a span of six nights. For more than 59 minutes on Saturday afternoon at New York's UBS Arena, the first meeting of the season between the Caps and Isles looked like it might be another 1-0 affair.

Making his first start in nearly a month, Vitek Vanecek made 23 saves to record his first shutout of the season in what turned out to be a 2-0 win over the Isles. Tom Wilson gave Vanecek all the offense he would need before the game's first television timeout in the first period, and Alex Ovechkin's empty-net goal with 10.2 seconds remaining put a coda on the win for Washington, halting a four-game slide (0-2-2).

During the life of their losing streak, the Caps had stretches where they played well, but they weren't able to do so over the full 60 minutes. They did so on Saturday against the Isles.
"If you put together the whole 60 minutes, I thought it was excellent," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "The second period was really good, but the first and there were as well. Guys showed up today and competed really hard. We supported each other all over the ice. I thought we were strong on pucks and in battles, and we got a big road win. I thought we played the game the right way."
For the 27th time in 38 games this season, the Caps broke the seal on the scoresheet. They got it done early on Saturday, taking a 1-0 lead at 4:35 of the first on the Wilson goal.
Washington broke the puck out of its own end, moving crisply and efficiently from its own goal line to the New York line, where a bit of a traffic jam took place. Aliaksei Protas held up at the line as Wilson carried into the zone, and when Wilson was stripped of the puck, Protas collected it and put it right back to him in the high slot. From there, Wilson whipped a wrist shot that beat New York netminder Semyon Varlamov on the stick side.
"I had a lot of time," recounts Wilson. "I was just wanting to get it off before someone checked me from behind. Pro made a good play into the soft area of the ice, and I just buried my head and ripped it where I thought it had a chance, and it went in."

Vanecek made his first key stop in the second minute of the contest, denying New York's Zach Parise on a 2-on-1 bid. Washington tightened up considerably thereafter.
The Caps had the only power play of the first, and they put four shots on net but weren't able to add to their lead.
The second period was all Washington, though the score remained the same after 40 minutes of play. The Caps limited the Islanders to a single shot on net at 5-on-5 in the second, and they held a lopsided 17-3 advantage in shot attempts in the middle period.
Vanecek made another of his biggest stops early in the third when he flashed his left pad to thwart Oliver Wahlstrom, who blazed down the middle of the ice with speed and fired from just above the paint. It was the first of eight saves Vanecek made in the third.
The Caps helped Vanecek out with 11 blocked shots on the afternoon, nine of which came in the third period. Four of the nine third-period blocks came in the final two minutes when the Isles were pressing hard for the equalizer, with Varlamov on the bench for a sixth attacker. John Carlson blocked two shots, Garnet Hathaway one and Nicklas Backstrom one during the game's final two minutes, and Backstrom's block ultimately started the scoring play on Ovechkin's empty-netter, which sent the Caps home with two points.
Vanecek played the second half of Washington's most recent game, a 7-3 loss to the Bruins on Monday. That was the first action he had seen since his most recent start, a 3-2 loss to the Kings in Washington on Dec. 19, nearly four weeks ago. In between then and now, Vanecek landed in the COVID-19 protocol.
"I wasn't thinking about that; I want to help the team," says Vanecek. "I know we lost four in a row, and I tried to help the team win the game. I knew it would be a little bit harder with the breathing, but it wasn't too bad."

Vanecek's shutout was the third of his NHL career, and his second against the Islanders. It also halted New York's winning streak at a modest three games, its longest of the season.
"Disappointed obviously with the result, and a little bit disappointed with our execution," says Isles assistant coach Lane Lambert, who is piloting the Isles in the absence of coach Barry Trotz (COVID-19 protocol). "I didn't think we made a lot of plays and we weren't handling the puck the way we could, should or normally would."