Caps Overtake Isles, 3-1

Facing a difficult opponent on the road, but also facing a team playing its second game in as many nights and its third in the last four, the Caps too a slow play stance toward the New York Islanders on Friday night at NYCB Live. Although they fell down early, the Caps were able to exact a slow toll on the Isles over the course of the 60-minute contest, and it paid off with a hard fought 3-1 victory.

"Yeah, definitely something strategic that was discussed that we talked about," says Caps coach Todd Reirden of his team's game-long investment at wearing the Islanders down. "We may not get rewarded in minute one, minute five, or minute 10, but if you do it for long enough and you invest and force them to defend, we like our chances and believe in the things that we do in our room that we are eventually going to be able to convert on some of those higher quality chances that started to materialize for us."
That's how it played out, but it took some time.
Washington's start was less than stellar once again, as it dodged a Cal Clutterbuck scoring chance on the game's first shift and exhaled as a Scott Mayfield point drive caromed off the crossbar. But even though the Isles didn't score on those two early bids, they netted the game's first goal before the contest was three minutes old.

Dmitry Orlov's intended breakout pass went right to New York's Tom Kuhnhackl, who beat Caps goalie Braden Holtby with a backhander to the shelf on the resulting breakaway, staking the Islanders to a 1-0 lead at 2:43.
The Caps had a raft of good scoring chances of their own thereafter, but couldn't get any of them behind New York's Thomas Greiss. Facing an Islanders team that played an emotional game against its former captain John Tavares and the Toronto Maple Leafs a night earlier, the Caps did a good job of making the Isles play defense and forcing them to chase the puck at their end of the ice.
At one point - with the aid of multiple icing violations - New York defenseman Ryan Pulock was stuck on the ice for a shift of 3 minutes and 9 seconds in duration.
"That's important when you're playing a team on a back-to-back," says Caps winger T.J. Oshie. "You want to wear them down, whether that's with hits or playing in the [defensive] zone - especially for the defensemen and the low forward; more times than not the center - that's a lot of skating around, that's a lot of defending, a lot of battling. And that can wear you down pretty quick on the second night of a back-to-back."

Reirden noted on Friday morning that he wanted his team to battle harder to get to then interior of the ice, but of course the Islanders generally do a stellar job of protecting that area. Through most of the second period, all the Caps could do was send pucks from the points toward the night, trying for a deflection, hoping to generate a rebound in the right area, or getting a good rattle around the bodies, sticks and skates situated in front.
Still, through 40 minutes, the Caps were without a goal and trailing just 1-0, and they were also without a power play opportunity. But in the third, Washington's patience and its persistence finally paid off.
Early in the third, Michal Kempny's left point shot was blocked, but he collected the rebound and carried down the left wing wall. From the goal line, Kempny put the puck to traffic in the front, and the Caps got the bounce they needed - off Nicklas Backstrom and right to Jakub Vrana, stationed just off the left post. Vrana had just enough time and net room to score his 19th of the season, tying the game at 1-1 at 3:26 of the third.
Less than a minute later, New York's Anders Lee was boxed for interference on Backstrom in the immediate aftermath of a draw in the Islanders' end, sending the Caps to their first extra-man opportunity of the night.
Thirteen seconds after Lee was seated, the Caps grabbed the lead.
Alex Ovechkin scored what would prove to be the game-winner on the power play, but it was far from a typical tally from the office with the extra man. Oshie took a shot from the slot, and Greiss stopped but did not corral it. The puck popped into the air, and Ovechkin took a midair swing at it, popping it up again, and it went in off the stick of Isles defender Johnny Boychuk.
Ovechkin's goal was his 45th of the season, putting him in the league's annals as the only player ever with 10 seasons of 45 or more goals.
With two goals in a span of 68 seconds, the Caps had their first lead of the night, and against a team that entered the game with a 26-1-4 record when leading after 40 minutes of play. From there, the Caps played road hockey, getting pucks deep and making sure the Islanders were going to have to come 200 feet to generate a threat.
With less than two minutes remaining and Greiss pulled for an extra attacker, the Caps got a lovely gift from their hosts. From the Washington line, Oshie put the puck off the glass on his backhand, putting just the right touch on it to avoid icing. New York's Josh Bailey took possession at the Islanders' line, gently sliding it back for a teammate who wasn't there. The puck slid into the net for Oshie's 21st goal of the season, and some welcome breathing room for Washington with 1:28 remaining.

Friday's satisfying victory is the Caps' fifth in their last six games, and their third straight as they seek a level of consistency that has eluded them for much of the season.
"It was an extremely competitive game," says Reirden. "I thought the intensity level was at a high. We didn't have success to start the game, but we stayed the course. We didn't change how we played - we continued to play the same way the rest of the game until we were rewarded.
"That's a big step in the overall growth of our game, to not start to look to cheat for offense or any of those things. We spent a ton of time in the offensive zone and carried the play, and eventually we were going to earn some power plays - a power play - and be able to convert on some chances. It's an important team win for us."