Game 1 Notebook: Isles Come Back vs Caps, Win 4-2

Game 1 was a fight from the drop of the puck, so it was a little fitting that the New York Islanders had to fight their way out of a hole en route to a 1-0 series lead.

Down 2-0 with two minutes to play in the second period, the Islanders rallied for four straight goals, beating the Washington Capitals 4-2 to take Game 1 of their best-of-seven series.

"It is nice being up 1-0 [in the series] tonight, especially after being down 2-0 [in the game]," Mathew Barzal said. "But this group knows we're playing a pretty good hockey team so we can't complacent being up a game or think they aren't going to come out flying the next game... It's a good feeling being up one, but there's a long way to go."

The Isles big guns led the comeback, as Jordan Eberle, Anders Lee, Josh Bailey and Anthony Beauvillier scored four goals in a 12:58 span. Bailey (1G, 1A), Brock Nelson (2A) and Mathew Barzal (2A) all finished the game with two points. Semyon Varlamov stopped 24 shots in the win.

ISLES STAGE DRAMATIC COMEBACK:

It was a tale of two games for the New York Islanders.

The first 38 minutes of Wednesday's contest were a slog, as the Isles held a steady parade to the penalty box and were limited to just two shots on goal in the first period. The Isles felt they were out of rhythm, esepcially the non-penalty killers, who couldn't get into the action early. Add a pair of Capitals power-play goals in the second period and it appeared that the postgame press conference was going to be more about lack of discipline.

Despite the adversity, the Islanders didn't quit. Instead they got their emotions in check and stuck with the process. It paid off at the end of the second period, as Eberle beat Braden Holtby (23 saves) with a wrister from the high slot with 1:03 to play. The goal, which Holtby whiffed on glove side, gave the Isles momentum heading into the intermission and they carried it into the third period.

"Eberle getting that one late in the second period to kind of give us a boost to go into the third 2-1 really helped," Barzal said. "You get that goal right at the start of the period there and it gets the motor going a bit more. It was a full team effort tonight."

Lee scored 51 seconds into the third to tie the game, depositing his first goal of the postseason in his usual fashion, crashing the net and burying a rebound from the paint. The Isles' captain was one assist shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick, after dropping the gloves with Tom Wilson in the first period.

The Isles had all the momentum and while it seemingly dissipated with a Leo Komarov high stick, the Isles penalty kill came up with the defining play of the game, as Nelson fished a puck out down low to a trailing Bailey, who quickly snapped a shorthanded one-timer past Holtby at 6:51.

"Honestly we knew how the game was going, we felt like we were generating chances that just hadn't gone in at that point," Lee said. "Going into the third was that same mentality. Keep the foot on the gas and keep getting pucks to the net, but just as a group we all settled in and played a really smart period and got some phenomenal plays from Nelly, Barzy and Bails and Beau."

And on a night where the PK was asked to do the heavy lifting (the Isles took seven penalties) scoring the game-winner felt like a just reward.

"Big shoutout to our PKers, they did a heck of a job," Barzal said.

Beauvillier finished off a tic-tac-toe play with Bailey and Barzal at 11:55 to make it 4-2 and from there the Isles put the game on lockdown. To fully appreciate how much the Isles had turned the game around, consider they held the second-highest scoring team in the league to one shot on goal in a 14:25 span of the third period (15:17 remaining to 0:52).

"We just stuck with it," Bailey said.

PHYSICALITY AND PENALTIES:

Barry Trotz called the Islanders-Capitals 2015 playoff series vicious. Matt Martin called it the most demanding he'd played in.

Five years later, not much had changed.

The rough stuff early between the Metro Division rivals, who combined for 75 hits (39-36 Isles). Lee tangled with Norris Trophy finalist John Carlson in the opening minutes, as Carlson took exception to a Lee hit on Nicklas Backstrom that knocked the Capitals forward out of the game. That set the tone, as Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck set off a mini brouhaha in front of the benches with Wilson and Dmitry Orlov. Lee and Wilson squared off at the end of the first period, as animosity filled the air.

That's not necessarily how the Isles drew it up after preaching discipline in the days leading up to the series.

"We took too many penalties tonight, unnecessary ones, a bench minor and that kind of thing," Lee said. "You just need to keep your composure, it's going to be a physical series and they are going to hit you around and we're going to respond the same way. You just have to be smart about it."

While they killed off their three penalties in the first period, it caught up to them in the second period with a pair of power-play goals from TJ Oshie. The icebreaker came via a bad bounce, as Evgeny Kuznetsov's centering feed deflected off Adam Pelech's skate, off the end boards and out to Oshie, who deposited into an open net at 5:27.

The Caps power play struck again at the 11:18 mark, as Oshie jammed a puck through Semyon Varlamov's legs in a netfront pileup. The goal was preceded by an offensive zone penalty from Eberle, but Eberle got it back with 1:03 left in the second period, as Braden Holtby whiffed on a glove-side wrister to make it a 2-1 game.

And while it was a nice redemption story for the penalty kill to score the game-winner, taking seven penalties is not a game plan the Isles want to repeat on Friday.

"It wasn't our intention," Trotz said. "We'll play five-on-five with anyone in the league I think, but I've seen that power play up close and they're dangerous and you can't let that be apart of the strategy forsure."

Video: NYI@WSH, Gm1: Bailey, Beauvillier team up for goal

NO LINEUP CHANGES:

Barry Trotz opted to go back to the same line up that closed out the Florida Panthers in Game 1 against the Capitals. That meant that Andy Greene stayed in the lineup, despite Johnny Boychuk being available and taking warmups.

Greene has been in the lineup for four straight games after Boychuk took a high hit in Game 1 of the Panthers series.

START OF GAME DELAYED BY AN HOUR:

The start of Wednesday's contest was pushed back an hour from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., as the Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins played into double-overtime and did not end until 2:48 p.m.

The Bruins-Hurricanes game was originally scheduled for Tuesday night, but was postponed due to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets playing into a fifth overtime.

The one-hour delay didn't significantly impact either team, but is just another unusual factor in an unusual hockey season.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders and Capitals meet in Game 2 on Friday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m.