After a big win against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Washington Capitals are back to face the New York Islanders on home ice.
With several big names out, the Caps brought up some reinforcements including Ivan Miroshnichenko and Hendrix Lapierre from AHL Hershey. Miroshnichenko will make his NHL debut tonight.
Connor McMichael is a late scratch due to illness. Darcy Kuemper will get the start in net.
Tonight’s game is on Monumental Sports Network locally and TNT nationally. Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin have the call. Puck drop is a little after 7:30 pm.
Lines
Alex Alexeyev is the Capitals only scratch.
Lineys!#CapsIsles | @JackDaniels_US pic.twitter.com/4jxRwcwHFX
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 21, 2023
Tunnel weirdness
"Hello, big boy!"#ALLCAPS | @CaesarsSports pic.twitter.com/iBJFgdYtVl
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 21, 2023
Miro’s hot lap
Your moment is here, 6️⃣3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/cPxpGeCmvA
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 21, 2023
1st Period
Darcy Kuemper will oppose Semyon Varlamov in net. Ovechkin-Strome-Wilson and Edmundson-Jensen get the start.
Beck Malenstyn takes an offensive zone tripping penalty 57 seconds into the period.
Pierre Engvall takes a hooking penalty.
Miroshnichenko is on the Capitals’ second power-play unit. He was physical and fast. He already got his first shot on net.
🚨 1-0 Capitals. Hendrix Lapierre scores his second goal of the season with 10:04 remaining in the period. Lappy nailed a one-timer from the slot, beating Varly under the right arm. Aliaksei Protas got the primary assist. (The goal song is “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” which seemed to mute the cheers.)
Lappy welcoming himself back quite nicely pic.twitter.com/fsXn8e0fq5
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 21, 2023
The Capitals doubled the Islanders in shots 14 to 7 and out-attempted them at 5v5, 20 to 10. Miro got five shifts and skated 3:35 in the first.
2nd Period
🚨 1-1 tie. Hudson Fasching peels from behind the net and scores on Darcy Kuemper five hole 1:03 into the period. Poor defense by TVR and Kuemper needs to keep the wickets closed there. The goal was unassisted.
🚨 2-1 Capitals. Huge clapper from Joel Edmundson goes in after a great screen in front of the net by Aliaksei Protas.
The Capitals are outshooting the Islanders 26-16 and out-attempting them at out-attemping them at five-on-five, 37-21.
3rd Period
Puck is dropped.
🚨 2-2 tie. Anders Lee with a nice take to the net, beating Kuemper from close range. The game is now tied with 7:58 remaining.
Anthony Mantha can’t score on a semi-breakaway after getting hooked a bit.
And we’re going to overrrrrrtime. The Capitals outshot the Islanders 34 to 32. At five-on-five, the Islanders out-attempted the Caps 51-48.
Overtime
Martin Fehervary draws a penalty on Dobson with 4:17 remaining in overtime. Caps go to the power play: a 4-on-3.
🚨 3-2 Caps. Dylan Strome wins it on the resulting power play. The Caps center snaps a shot from the point past a screened Semyon Varlamov for the win.
The game-winning goal was reviewed after a call-in from Toronto. Before Strome scored, Wilson hit the puck out of the air. It was determined not to be a high stick and a good goal.
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