The Washington Capitals hosted the New York Islanders for some late-season Metropolitan Division action on Wednesday night. The Caps could play spoiler a bit for the Isles down the stretch as they have one more scheduled matchup after this one and the Isles’ lead on the first wild-card playoff spot in the East is just three points.
Pierre Engvall opened the scoring with a very leaky goal on Darcy Kuemper. Conor Sheary tied things up with a wicked backhander.
Nothing in overtime so to the shootout we went.
- Kuznetsov put the biscuit in the basket
- Horvat put the biscuit in the basket
- Oshie did NOT put the biscuit in the basket
- Palmieri put the biscuit in the basket
- Backstrom did NOT put the biscuit in the basket
Islanders beat Caps 2-1.
- The first period was exactly what you’d expect from a game involving the New York Islanders. They love making hockey boring because they are incapable of matching skill for skill. Just 10 total shots in the first but the Caps had seven of them and I thought were the better team in all three zones. New York went without a shot for the last 13:28 of the period.
- Did anyone else constantly hear the sound of an incredibly dull skate blade throughout the whole night? KP thinks it was Ilya Sorokin in net which would make sense because it was seemingly neverending and there are probably TNT mics over by the nets. It legit sounded like a NASCAR race at some points.
- Happy birthday to the great Tom Wilson. Can you guys believe that dude is already 29 years old? Goodness, someone slow time down.
LET’S GO CAPS!! #CAPSisles #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/JGp4KHprY7
— Wes Johnson (@WesJohnsonVoice) March 29, 2023
- Little bit of a more even second period as the Isles seemingly actually tried to play a little more offense. Did not love Darcy Kuemper on Pierre Engvall’s goal. I know he was probably a little cold after only seeing three shots in the first but that was a bad one. Way too deep in his crease.
- Am I the only one that thought Alex Alexeyev was unbelievable in this game? Did he make a single mistake or even a meh play? He was lockdown one-on-one, was joining the rush offensively, and making great outlet feeds. Feels like Dmitry Orlov was right.
- 75 games in and the Caps still have just one player with 20 or more goals and that’s obviously Alex Ovechkin with his 42. A lot of injuries and stuff this season but that can’t happen again next season.
- No points for Rasmus Sandin in his last three games after he went pointless in just two of his first nine games in a Caps jersey. He passed up a prime chance in the second to get the puck on net.
Charmander is loving it!! pic.twitter.com/kwbNjT6vvr
— Hina Ansari, PMP 🐉 🔥 (@orangeyHina) March 30, 2023
- The Caps had one shot on goal 15 minutes into the third period. That is not good.
- Zero power plays in regulation. Scott Mayfield boarding Conor Sheary and Nicolas Aube-Kubel’s response to that hit were the only penalties.
- Tonight was Biscuit’s last home game with the Caps. Biscuit is a service dog in training through America’s VetDogs and will soon graduate and be paired with a veteran for his forever home.
The Caps will get right back to it tomorrow against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning are primed for a first-round playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs which is kinda hilarious.
Headline photo courtesy of kurly
