The Washington Capitals fell to the New York Islanders, 2-1 in the shootout Wednesday night at Capital One Arena in the District. The loss drops the Capitals record to 34-32-9 (77 points) on the season.
STARTERS
Darcy Kuemper (21-23-0-5, 2.76 GAA, .911 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Ilya Sorokin (27-19-0-7, 2.39 GAA, .924 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Islanders:
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Anthony Mantha — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Craig Smith
Conor Sheary — Nic Dowd — Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin — Nick Jensen
Alex Alexeyev — Trevor van Riemsdyk
Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
Scratches: Sonny Milano (upper body injury), Matt Irwin
FIRST PERIOD
The Capitals and Islanders skated to a scoreless draw in the first frame. The Capitals led in shots on goal, 7-3. There were no power plays.
Alex Ovechkin had the Capitals best scoring chance in the first 20 minutes.
#ALLCAPS Ovechkin quick chat with TNT guy pic.twitter.com/lgDQawFWEG
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) March 30, 2023
Five-on-five shot attempts in the first period were tied 15-15. The Capitals worked their way back into the period following an early flurry by the Islanders. The Capitals led in scoring chances, 8-4 and xGF .46 to .25. The Islanders led the battle at the dot, 67-33%.
SECOND PERIOD
The Islanders opened the scoring early in the second period with a tally from Pierre Engvall (17) at 3:52. The Islanders’ shot drought ended at 16:57 with a shot from the right point, and then Engvall scored on the following shot. Brock Nelson (37) and Alexander Romanov (20) had the helpers.
Nelson ➡️ Engvall ➡️ 🚨 pic.twitter.com/oDoH2LyXF8
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 30, 2023
But the Capitals answered just two and half minutes later. Conor Sheary potted his 15th goal of the season at 6:22. Nic Dowd (22) and Nicolas Aube-Kubel (13) had the assists.
Conor Sheary zips the backhander past Sorokin to respond back for the Capitals, knotting it up at 1!#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/fSnjtRpjFG
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) March 30, 2023
And that was it for the second period. The Capitals led in five-on-five shot attempts 20-18 in the second period and 35-33 after two periods. The Capitals led in high-danger chances, 4-2 after two periods.
THIRD PERIOD
The Capitals and Islanders skated to a scoreless draw in the final frame.
The Islanders led in shots on goal 15-5 in the final frame.
OVERTIME/SHOOTOUT
The three-on-three overtime period would also go scoreless, sending the game to the shootout. The Islanders would take it in the shootout.
1) Capitals: Kuznetsov: Good; Islanders: Good
2) Capitals: Oshie: No Good; Islanders: Good
3) Capitals: Backstrom: No Good
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS PERFORMANCE
SHAVINGS
- Conor Sheary scores his 15th goal of the season to tie the game 1-1. Sheary extends his point streak to four games (3g, 1a).
- Sheary’s current four-game point streak is one game shy of matching his career long of five games, which he has accomplished twice with Washington (12/23/22 – 1/3/23: 1g, 7a; 12/10/21 – 12/19/21: 2g, 4a).
- Seven of Sheary’s 15 goals this season have marked the Capitals’ opening goal in a game.
- Nicolas Aube-Kubel recorded the primary assist on Sheary’s goal, his ninth assist of the season. Aube-Kubel has recorded an assist in two-straight games.
- Nic Dowd recorded the secondary assist on Sheary’s goal, his 13th assist of the season. Dowd, who has recorded a career-high 26 points (13g, 13a) this season, has tallied three points (1g, 2a) in his last four games.