Game 3 Preview: Islanders vs Capitals

NEW YORK ISLANDERS AT WASHINGTON CAPITALS
GM 3 | AUG. 16 | NOON | SCOTIABANK ARENA
ISLES LEAD BEST-OF-SEVEN SERIES 2-0
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The New York Islanders lead the Washington Capitals 2-0 in their best-of-seven First Round series, but Barry Trotz knows first-hand to not get too comfortable in that position.

In 2018, the Capitals - with Trotz at the helm - fell behind 2-0 in their First Round series to the Columbus Blue Jackets, dropping the first two games at home. The result? Four straight Washington wins, the first test of adversity the 2018 Caps overcame on their march to the Stanley Cup.
The Islanders' coach didn't dwell on it in his meeting with his team on Saturday, but offered it up as a reminder to not let the Caps get off the canvas.

READ: ISLES-CAPS RIVALRY STILL SIMMERING FROM 2015
"Our players are well-aware of that journey," Trotz said on Saturday. "We'll brush on it, but I'm going to focus on us, that's what we came here to do, and focus on how we play. That's the main focus."
The Isles will look to put a stranglehold on the series when the team's meet on Sunday afternoon. They're well-aware of the pushback they'll get from the Capitals, who are fighting to stay off the brink of elimination.
"Every game in the series the intensity just gets that much more ramped up," Anders Lee said. "We've put a couple of pretty good games together, but we can't sit back and rest on our laurels against this team. They're an experienced group over there that have been through a lot and overcome a lot clearly to have won it a couple of years ago. We have to be primed and ready to go for Game 3, it's not going to get any easier."

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ISLES LOOKING TO START STRONGER:

The Islanders allowed the opening goal in both games, including an icebreaker 56 seconds into Game 2. As much as they've liked their resilience and third period play in each game, getting out to a better start is a priority.
"I didn't like our start yesterday, I haven't liked our starts in the series, we've been sort of trailing and chasing the game a little bit," Trotz said. "But our finishes have been really strong and you see that we understand how we have to play, especially with leads or in the third period."
READ: IGNITING THE ISES IDENTITY LINE
The Islanders starts can be improved, but it's hard to top the way they've finished Games 1 and 2. The Isles have outscored the Caps 5-0 in the third period in the series, and have locked games down defensively once they've secured a lead. The Isles held the Caps to one shot-on-goal in a 15-minute stretch of the third period in Game 1. The third period of Game 2 featured Isles hockey at its peak, as they pinned the Caps on their own side of center with an aggressive forecheck for a couple of minutes before Cal Clutterbuck made it 4-2.
"Guys were on the puck, they were forcing turnovers, forcing them to turn back," Trotz said. "They've got some very high-end guys, we weren't going to give them any free pucks, they were going to have to take it off us. They were going to have to go through us to get to our end and we just positionally stayed in the fight, we were on the right side of people and stayed aggressive, stayed fresh and we were able to keep them in their end for a while."

Video: Isles Player Availability: 8/15

BACKSTROM'S STATUS UNKNOWN:

Nicklas Backstrom's status is up in the air for Game 3. The Capitals star center missed Game 2 as he was in concussion protocol after taking a hit from Anders Lee in Game 1. Backstrom reportedly took the ice at the end of Saturday's practice, but Caps Coach Todd Reirden did not offer an update on his status.
With Backstrom out, Evgeny Kuznetsov assumed top line duties with Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson. Lars Eller, who missed Game 1 for quarantine-related reasons, drew back into the lineup for Game 2. Eller skated 21:29 with two hits, two shots and a block, while playing primarily with TJ Oshie and Jakub Vrana.

Video: Game 2 Recap: Isles 5, Capitals 2

ISLES NOTES:

Anthony Beauvillier extended his point streak to six games with an assist on Friday. Beauvillier (4G, 3A) leads the team with four postseason goals and is tied with Josh Bailey (1G, 6A) for the team lead in points with seven.
Per Eric Hornick
, Beauvillier is the first Islander since Bryan Trottier (all 18 games in 1981) and Mike Bossy (first nine games in 1981) to have a point in the first six playoff games of a season.
Also per Hornick
, the Isles have allowed fewer than 30 shots in seven straight games for the first time since an eight-game stretch in April-May 1984.
Semyon Varlamov's .929 SV% ranks second among all goalies in the postseason, trailing only Calgary's Cam Talbot (.937) Varlamov is 5-1 in postseason play with a 1.85 goals-against average, which ranks sixth among goalies with four or more starts.
The Islanders will be the home team on Sunday, giving them last change. While that's an advantage, the road team has won 10-straight meetings between the clubs dating back to the start of the 2018-19 season.