The Washington Capitals had to be feeling the pressure of securing a win on Monday night as they took on the New York Islanders for the first time this season. Things did not start well but they sure ended better as the good guys scored four unanswered to take down two points 4-3 in overtime.
They needed that one.
- The Caps definitely started on their back foot as they barely showed up for the first period and that let the Isles secure two early goals. Their second was far better as they likely got chewed out at the intermission and came up with positive five-on-five differentials in shot attempts (+6), scoring chances (+7), and high-danger chances (+7). The third was even for the most part but had some major Caps defensive-zone breakdowns that needed very clean goaltending to prevent from impacting the final score. Overall, not a game I think they want to repeat.
- Darcy Kuemper owed them that clean goaltending after allowing that third New York goal. Kuemper came up with 27 stops on 30 overall shots for the win and finished the game perfect in both the third period and overtime.
- This is a really weird one. Per Caps PR, Dmitry Orlov has scored five overtime goals since the 2019-20 season which ranks first on the Capitals and is tied for sixth in the entire league.
The Capitals have a record of 8-1-0 in their last nine road games, dating back to to Dec. 5.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) January 17, 2023
- I really liked how the Caps lined up for this game. Unfortunately, the almost immediate injury to Nic Dowd didn’t let them get much of a showcase. One thing is for certain though. That first line of Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, and Conor Sheary just works. I don’t really know why it does, but it does. In 11:25 of five-on-five ice time, the Caps out-attempted New York 10 to 2, out-scoring chanced them 5 to 2, and out-high danger chanced them 2 to 1 with that trio on the ice.
- Tom Wilson scored his first goal of the season off of an amazing Nicklas Backstrom feed. I honestly think Backstrom has looked the better of the two since they’ve made their returns which is the exact opposite of what I expected. It’s not really that Wilson has looked bad, but Backstrom has exceeded my expectations. This was easily Wilson’s most active game though as he recorded 12 individual shot attempts, 8 individual scoring chances, and 7 individual high-danger chances. More of that, Tom.
- The Caps’ recent mini skid has dropped them back into the Wild Card picture and this win really helped things there as the Isles are the main team currently chasing both the Caps and Pittsburgh Penguins for the two spots in the Eastern Conference. The Caps hold a better point percentage (.587) over both the Islanders (.556) and Penguins (.581).
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
