When Devon Toews (1G, 2A) put the Isles up 4-1 at 17:25 of the second period, it appeared that the Islanders were going to cruise to a win over the NHL-leading Capitals.
Through 40 minutes, it looked like the Isles had shook off a last-minute loss to the Rangers and responded with a solid effort against a divisional rival, scoring four goals and getting production out of both special teams. They'd even chased Braden Holtby, who allowed four goals on 22 shots and was replaced by Ilya Samsonov.
But Barry Trotz, who coached Washington from 2014-18, knew not to count out the Caps and warned his club that they needed to keep their foot on the gas.
"After the second period, we talked about how this team has championship pedigree. They've come back from a number of games this year," Trotz said. "[We said] you can't take our foot off the pedal. Make sure you get pucks to the next level. We didn't do that. There's a level that you have to raise when the game is on the line and we didn't raise it."
The comeback started innocently enough, with Carl Hagelin getting inside position on Ross Johnston and tapping in a Richard Panik feed to make it 4-2. Two minutes and 45 seconds later, Ovechkin scored his second of the night, as his drive to the net caromed off Ryan Pulock's skate and in. That put enough unease in Trotz to call a time out, which sparked his team in the short term, but couldn't hold off the Capitals pressure.
