Caps Set to Battle Isles

August 12 vs. New York Islanders at Scotiabank Arena

Time: 3 p.m.

TV: NBCSW, NBCSN, SportsNet

Radio:Capitals Radio 24/7, 106.7 FM The Fan

New York Islanders (35-23-10)

Washington Capitals (41-20-8)

Game 1, Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Series

With last week's round robin finally and mercifully behind them, the Caps can now move on to what matters most and what they've been eagerly anticipating for more than a year now, the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Washington begins what it hopes will be a long late-summer run for the coveted Cup on Wednesday afternoon when it faces the New York Islanders in the opening game of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series between the two Metropolitan Division rivals.

The Caps went 1-1-1 in their three round-robin games, claiming a 2-1 win over Boston in Sunday's finale, a victory they hope propels them to greater things starting on Wednesday.

"Obviously Boston was very important to get a win," says Caps captain Alex Ovechkin, "and to feel back in the winning mode. I'm pretty sure lots of guys right now are very excited to go to the next round and play against a good team."

Washington is hopeful of having Norris Trophy finalist John Carlson in its lineup for Wednesday's series opener. After suffering an undisclosed injury in the Caps' July 29 exhibition game with Carolina, Carlson missed all three round-robin games. He did practice with his teammates on Tuesday, and will be a game-time decision on Wednesday. If he is unable to suit up, veteran Radko Gudas or rookie Martin Fehervary would be his likely replacement.

The Caps will definitely be without center Lars Eller for Game 1; Eller is back in the bubble after a quick trip home for the birth of his family's second child, and he has yet to pass through the NHL's protocol for returning to the bubble after an absence.

As he did for the round-robin finale against the Bruins, Travis Boyd is expected to fill in for Eller in the middle of Washington's third line, between Carl Hagelin and Ilya Kovalchuk.

Aside from those two, the Caps' lineup is likely to look as it did for most of the four games the team has played since arriving in Toronto on July 26.

"For us, for our team, to see how we respond and how we react to our first real playoff game action, the intensity level that we've been looking to see from our group," answers Caps coach Todd Reirden, when asked what excites him most about Wednesday's opener. "That's exciting times, when you're starting this process of actual elimination series and games. We spent the last few days preparing our players, and we have a good plan in place now it's up to us to be able to match the work ethic and the compete of the New York Islanders, and they're going to be a difficult team to play against."

Braden Holtby went the distance in all three round-robin games, and was sharp, yielding a total of six goals against in those contests. The Caps will be counting heavily on their veteran netminder going forward, and he's ready for the challenge of backstopping another long playoff run.

With rookie backup goaltender Ilya Samsonov sidelined for the duration of the playoffs, Holtby knows he may have to shoulder the burden of playing every game, and that may include starting games on back-to-back days if this series goes the distance.

"I think that's very reasonable," says Holtby, who started 72 games for Washington in 2014-15, the last time they faced the Isles in the playoffs. "I think we've had enough time to rest and recover, and to put in some good work here to make sure we're in the right shape physically and mentally to go all out here and put everything into every game."

Is it the physical or the mental toll that is most taxing on a netminder once the playoffs start?

"It depends on what your body has been through or not," responds Holtby, "whether you've had nagging injuries or whatever that the time off helps get rid of. But in an 82-game schedule, it's usually [the] mental [aspect] that gets at you. When playoff time comes, that's when it's fun again so it's easy to get through the grind. Right now we're going right into it, so that's exciting."

Washington scuffled offensively during the round robin, scoring a grand total of five goals in the three games, one of them on the power play. Goals are always harder to come by in the playoffs, but the Caps know they can and must do better on that front.

"We also need more from us top guys," says Caps center Nicklas Backstrom. "There are no secrets. We've got to work a little harder, we've got to go to the net and get those secondary chances. Overall, we've just got to use each other a little bit better and make sure we create those chances because it hasn't been good enough so far. But on the other hand, now is the time it starts, so this is the time we need to show up."

Washington's first-round matchup is a familiar foe in a number of ways. The Caps and Islanders have met eight times previously in the postseason, most recently in a grueling and grinding seven-game series in 2015. Barry Trotz was in his first season as the Capitals' head coach then, and Reirden was in his first season as a Washington assistant coach.

Now, the two former cohorts will be going head-to-head, or at least their respective teams will be doing so.

"I think it'll be a hell of a series," says Trotz. "Both teams are well-equipped to go at each other."

Trotz is right about that. Both teams are strong, deep and playoff-worthy, and they're both well-equipped to go at each other because both coaches and their staffs possess tireless work ethics, and both are constantly seeking any edge or advantage that might tilt a game or a series in their direction. They worked side-by-side to get the Caps their first Stanley Cup title in 2018, and Trotz's staff also features former Caps assistant coach Lane Lambert and goaltending director Mitch Korn, both of whom were also members of Washington's 2018 championship outfit.

For the first quarter of the 2019-20 NHL regular season, the Caps and Islanders were neck and neck as they vied for the top spot in the Metro standings. On the morning of Nov. 23, the Caps (16-4-4, 36 points) and Islanders (16-3-1, 33 points) occupied the top two spots in the Eastern Conference standings. Both teams tailed off considerably thereafter, and the Islanders actually dropped each of their last seven games (0-3-4) ahead of the mid-March pandemic pause.

But the Islanders disposed of Florida with little trouble in the best-of-five play-in round, sending the Panthers home after four games. One of New York's top performers in the Florida series was trade deadline acquisition Jean-Gabriel Pageau, obtained from Ottawa on Feb. 24 and signed to a six-year, $30-million contract extension on the same day.

Pageau scored three goals - all at even strength - in the series against the Panthers. The deadline additions of Pageau and veteran defenseman Andy Greene came after the last regular season meeting between the Caps and the Islanders, on Feb. 10 in Washington.

"He is like a little bit of a Swiss Army knife because I can use him on both special teams," says Trotz of Pageau. "He can be in a shutdown role, he can be in an offensive role, he can play all three forward positions."

Pageau scored two goals in seven regular season games with New York, but including his time with the Senators, he totaled 26 goals on the season, tying him with Brock Nelson for the team lead. With Mathew Barzal, Nelson and Pageau centering their top three lines, the Islanders' attack is a bit more formidable than it was for most of the season. The Islanders finished fifth in the league in goals against, but they ranked 22nd in the NHL with an average of 2.78 goals for per game. Among the 16 playoff teams, only Arizona (2.71), Dallas (2.58) and Columbus (2.57) were lower.

The Isles go into this series with Washington feeling much better about their offensive prospects; they scored 13 goals in four games against Florida, with four of those coming on the power play.

Both the Isles and the Caps seem excited to get going on Wednesday.

"I think we match up pretty good against them," says Isles defenseman Nick Leddy, one of eight Islanders remaining from the last time these two teams met in the postseason. "I think it's always a high intensity game through with the regular season, and it almost feels like a playoff game every time we play them. I think it'll be no different and everything will be more intense and a little faster pace. I think it'll be a fun series, and we're looking forward to it."

"We all understand what the playoffs means and how we have to play," says Ovechkin. "Lots of guys have been on the Stanley Cup championship team, and we know what it takes. It doesn't matter how much time you have, if you go out there you just have to do your job - make a hit, try to play smart, and if somebody makes a mistake, you have to cover it. Obviously with five guys on the ice, everybody has to play for each other. The whole team has to play for each other."