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Beat Barry: Caps win 4-1

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Heading into tonight, the Capitals had a five-game win streak. The Islanders had back-to-back wins. One of those win streaks ended tonight, and fortunately, it was the good guys that pulled out a win.

Valtteri Filppula went full hands team and scored a nifty backhander 36 seconds in. #TopLineTom tied it with wrister that beat Thomas Greiss five hole. After a wild first few minutes, both teams settled in and traded a few chances. Alex Ovechkin took a cross checking penalty to start the second period, and Matt Niskanen saved a would-be goal before the net came off its moorings. After being unable to get the puck out of their zone for what seemed like most of the period, the Caps had a jail break, and Nic Dowd beat Greiss glove-side off a Dmitrij Jaskin between-the-legs drop pass. In the third period, the Islanders sustained pressure, but Braden Holtby shut down every chance in time for the Caps to snag a 5-on-3 opportunity, and #TopLineTom served up a one-timer from the TJ Oshie bumper position. The Islanders pulled Greiss with 2:30 to go, but Alex Ovechkin grabbed an empty-netter.

Caps win 4-1!

  • Tom Wilson is playing the best hockey of his life, and now has five goals and five assists in the past six games. Keep the streak alive.

  • Speaking of Wilson, he mentioned before the game that the Isles play a similar system to the Caps so “You try and dissect basically how to beat yourself.” That was apparent from puck drop, as the Islanders loved to stretch the ice for odd-man breaks, and they also utilize a short pass to the left or right from center for zone entries. It was interesting to see the Caps play against their own system and try to pick it apart.
  • With assists on both of Wilson’s goals, Nicklas Backstrom is in sole possession of second all-time in points in franchise history. He’s second to Alex Ovechkin. Congrats Nicky!

  • One thing the Caps need to fix is the slow starts. While they’ve been able to battle back and score their way out problems in most cases, it’ll be something to keep tabs on as the season progresses.

  • Peter mentioned that the Caps don’t have a penalty kill problem, they had a penalty problem. It reared its ugly head starting in the second period when the Caps took two penalties in under five minutes, Orlov took a third with just over six minutes left, and Wilson took an offensive zone interference penalty to start the third period. Thankfully, the Isles power play is anemic, and ranked 23rd entering tonight, and during the win streak the Caps PK has been rolling at 93%.
  • Nic Dowd needs to bring his dad everywhere, because he’s scored in back-to-back games. He’s also exceeded his point total from last season.

  • Can I get an answer as to why Barclays Center has an SUV that takes up one full corner of front row seats? The thing looks ridiculous and it’s been there since they started playing at Barclays after the Caps closed the Coliseum.

Joe B Suit of the Night

After conceding the first goal, the boys put together a solid 59 minute effort in their second game in front of their dads and mentors, taking their win streak to six in a row. The Caps get to rest until Friday when they take on the New Jersey Devils at Capital One Arena at 7 PM, where they’ll look to get their seventh consecutive win.

Headline photo: NBC Sports Washington

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Islanders

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