Photo: Patrick McDermott/NHLi via Getty Images
The New York Islanders downed the Washington Capitals 5-3 Monday night at Capital One Arena. The Islanders opened the scoring with two quick goals in the first 6:16 of play. The Capitals would get on the scoreboard with a goal from John Carlson at 12:55 to make it 2-1, but the Islanders would answer for a 3-1 lead at the first break. The Islanders would add two goals early in the middle frame for a 5-1 lead before the Capitals answered with goals from Oshie and Eller to make it 5-3 at the second intermission. The final period would go scoreless.
GAME STATS
STARTERS
Ilya Samsonov (16-3-0-1, 2.19 GAA, .923 sv%) started between the pipes for Washington. Thomas Greiss (15-7-0-2, 2.53 GAA, .920 sv%) got the start in goal for visiting Islanders. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:
Scratches: Radko Gudas, Travis Boyd
FIRST PERIOD
The Islanders broke the seal on the scoring with a goal from Anthony Beauvillier at 3:30 of the first frame.
The Islanders would quickly make it 2-0 with Anthony Beauvillier’s second tally of the opening frame at 6:16 of the first period.
The Capitals would answer with a goal from John Carlson (15) at 12:55 of the first frame. Nicklas Backstrom (33) was credited with the lone assist.
Carly gets his 15th of the season! pic.twitter.com/bqDJ54yLkk
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 11, 2020
But the Islanders would quickly restore their two-goal lead with a 4-on-4 goal from Devon Toews at 18:06 of the first frame.
The first period ended with the Islanders leading 3-1. Shots on goal were tied 10-10, and shot attempts were tied 14-14. The Islanders led in faceoffs 59-41%. Both teams were 0 for 1 on the power play.
SECOND PERIOD
The Islanders would stretch their lead to 4-1 with a goal from Leo Komarov 45 seconds into the middle frame.
The Islanders would make it 5-1 with a tally from Jordan Eberle at 10:36. The Capitals replaced Ilya Samsonov with Braden Holtby following the Islanders 5th goal.
The Capitals would finally answer with a goal from Lars Eller (14) at 11:25 of the middle frame. Carl Hagelin (13) had the lone assist.
🦶 goal! pic.twitter.com/FDRmhiKEZ3
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 11, 2020
The Capitals would cut the Islanders lead to 5-3 with a power play goal from T.J. Oshie at 16:59 of the middle frame. John Carlson (52) and Nicklas Backstrom (34) had the helpers.
From Ovi’s office it’s…..TJ OSHIE! pic.twitter.com/bawaaNprfk
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 11, 2020
The period would end with the Capitals trailing 5-3. The Islanders led in shots on goal 14-8. The Islanders led in shot attempts 15-12.
THIRD PERIOD
The Capitals and Islanders would skate to a scoreless final frame. The Capitals led in shots on goal 11-8 for the final frame, with the Islanders led 32-29 for the game.
The Capitals led in shot attempts 22-14 for the final frame, and 48-43 for the game.
SHAVINGS
- Lars Eller scored to make it 5-2, marking his 14th goal of the year. He’s now six points shy of setting a new single season high (currently 14g, 19a).
- T.J. Oshie scored a power play goal to cut the Islanders lead to 5-3. That marks his 21st goal of the season, and he’s on pace to reach the 30 goal mark for the second time in his career.
- With a goal and an assist tonight, John Carlson is now five points shy of passing Calle Johansson (474) for the most points in franchise history by a defenseman.
SCENES FROM THE DISTRICT
Does flush water in a commode in the Northern Hemisphere swirl clockwise or counter-clockwise? Either way, that’s the Washington Capitals’ 2019-2020 season going straight down the toilet.
Baldy lost the team weeks ago. He was losing the team as early as 20 December. Baldy should have been removed weeks ago. Tomorrow will still be appropriate.
Too Bad for GM Brian MacLellan! I thought his offseason acquisitions were pretty good, and I still do today. But it’s a harder decision to fire a Head Coach. Does he have the cojones to do it?
The Hershey Bears are the best AHL team in the league, and the best minor league hockey team in the world. I’d be all in for Spencer Carbery to have his shot at coaching the Caps. Could he do even worse than Reirden? Of course he could. But Caps are in FREE FALL and it ain’t going to stop until El Jefe is a different guy.
I’d be all in for LaViolette, Babcock, or Dale Hunter. Caps still have excellent talent but Reirden is only the umpteenth incompetent NHL Head Coach in the past decade to coach his team into a death spiral. This is not a “bad stretch.” It is total meltdown.
GMBM: Do it. Today. [Note to NovaCapsReaders: GMBM just got SCOOPED by Jim Rutherford in PIT, again. Penguins just unloaded non-performer Galchenyuk and got Jason Zucker from MIN. The Penguins get better and the Caps get s*ckier. PIT is a superior franchise to the Caps, and their long-time record proves it. It’s a LOUSY time to be a Caps fan.]
It’s feeling more and more like a bigger move or moves are going to be made before deadline. Originally GMBM said they were just looking for depth.
Hi Jon
First — Hats off to you and your NovaCapsFans staff! It’s the only place one can really vent, or celebrate, our beloved Caps. Coverage is excellent
I’m just getting REAL tired of failure. The Caps franchise is capable of better. It’s time for them to show it by ACTION. “Depth” moves won’t cut it
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Hoping they get it together on this road trip. It may be just what they need to sort this all out. As far a Rear done, I would love to see them make a change to Lavi or Gallant but Caps don’t work like that. I do hope that if it’s another 1st round exit that he gets fired immediately after. No excuse with this team and talent. I would be sick if they kept him for another year. I hope they prove us wrong though…