The Caps faced their second away game of the season against a home opening squad and spoiled yet another as they took down the New York Islanders 2-1 in regulation.
The Caps out-shot the Isles 28 to 26 and out-attempted them at five-on-five 53 to 37.
- Congratulations are in order for the first career start and first career victory for Ilya Samsonov in the NHL. The big Russian netminder was fabulous in the 25 save winning effort, only being beaten by the flukiest of fluke goals off of three Capitals players.
- Outside of a short lull in the second period, I felt like the Caps controlled the entirety of this game. Not a single forward line saw their five-on-five shot attempt percentage dip below 50-percent.
The Caps top six carried the load in game one. Everyone looked good tonight, but especially good to see the bottom six tilt the ice so much (via Natural Stat Trick) https://t.co/HUVfPSSHSF pic.twitter.com/p38ao6WyZZ
— Paddy Holds (@pfholden) October 5, 2019
- I thought this one was also a particularly strong outing for all of the Capitals defensemen as well. They were active in all three zones, aggressive and smart with their pinching, and carried the load up ice very well. Dmitry Orlov was easily the best and probably the best skater on the ice overall for me. While Orly was on the ice at five-on-five, the Caps saw 67.9-percent of the shot attempts, a plus-10 scoring chance for margin, and a plus-five high danger chance for margin.
- This is another bullet for the teenage Martin Fehervary. The kid has looked nothing but comfortable in his first two NHL games, even throwing his body around a little in this one. He’s likely headed back to Hershey once Michal Kempny becomes available, but the future is blindingly bright for the Slovak.
- One player that I’ve seen some love for after both games is the new fourth line addition, Brendan Leipsic. The speedy winger combines really well with the power games of Nic Dowd and Garnet Hathaway. That fourth line was actually the Caps best in terms of driving play at five-on-five (71.4-percent shot attempt percentage), even though they were the victims of the Isles fluke goal.
- Chandler Stephenson got a negative bullet last game, so it’s only fair to mention him positively here after a much more noticeable game. He wasn’t able to convert on his breakaway opportunity, but at least the third line was actually more than visible tonight. I thought they created the majority of the Caps most dangerous chances at even strength.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Islanders
Headline Photo: NBC Sports Washington
