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Washington Capitals fall to Islanders 4-3 in OT

By Evan Longstreet

Apr 5, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov (92) passes the puck behind New York Islanders goalie Christopher Gibson (33) as Islanders center Brock Nelson (29) defends in the first period at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 5, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov (92) passes the puck behind New York Islanders goalie Christopher Gibson (33) as Islanders center Brock Nelson (29) defends in the first period at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Washington Capitals hosted the New York Islanders at Verizon Center Tuesday, who were looking for chance to clinch their spot in the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs.

This game was every bit as important to the already clinched Capitals team as Braden Holtby looked to break that elusive single season wins record.

The goalies match up for this one were the workhorse, 47-win Braden Holtby. For the Isles it was Christopher Gibson, making his first NHL start and the second appearance of his career.

After a game on Saturday where the Capitals could beat everything but the goal post, it only took Evgeny Kuznetsov 4 minutes to beat Gibson and ring one off the post after a nice entry and cute little drop pass from Justin Williams. That play led to an offensive zone face off that Marcus Johansson was able to win and Alex Ovechkin, the Islander killer, made no mistake, drilling the puck by Gibson. Alex Ovechkin now has 12 goals in his last 12 games vs. the Islanders.

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Around the midway mark of the first, Scott Mayfield had a big hit on Caps’ forward Mike Richards, who was slow to get up but did continue to play and shook it off. Mayfield however had to answer Michael Latta who was returning to the lineup for the first time since February 22nd.

The Islanders began the second period with the man advantage after a late crosschecking minor by Tom Wilson and it didn’t take John Tavares long to do his best Capitals impersonation and ring one off the crossbar and out. Five minutes into the second, Marcus Johansson and Dmitry Orlov had a 2 on 1 from the blue line in on Gibson but Johansson elected to shoot and Gibson was there for the save.

After a three point night against Tampa Bay the night before, at the 14 minute mark of the second period, John Tavares knotted the game at 1 – 1 after he received a pass from Thomas Hickey and fired a shot on Holtby’s glove side, who got a good chunk of it but not enough to keep it out of the net.

The Capitals got their first powerplay opportunity around the 16 minute mark of the second period, a powerplay unit who is missing their quarterback and NHL powerplay assist leader Nicklas Backstrom. The powerplay didn’t amount to much as the Capitals were struggling to gain zone entry clean enough to establish any zone time. They were able to set up with only seconds left and had a chance with the trademark Ovechkin one timer that Gibson had the answer for.

The third period began all tied at one when the Washington Capitals only one minute into the period are able to take the lead after Johansson fanned on a pass attempt to Ovechkin that found TJ Oshie who was able to one time it past Gibson. Only 5 minutes later the first line was able to strike again on a 3 on 1 rush where Johansson found Oshie who was made a beautiful move to walk around Mayfield to find Ovechkin for a tap in right in front of the net.

At the moment it felt the Washington Capitals had all the momentum, though only 90 seconds after the Ovechkin tally the Islanders dumped the puck into the zone and Holtby whiffed on a poke check and Okposo had a slam dunk to make it 3-2 Caps. The sadness for Capitals fans didn’t end there as only about one minute after Okposo ended up on the board, Anders Lee was able to redirect a Nick Leddy shot from the point to make the game even at 3-3. For the remainder of the third period the Isles and Caps exchanged chances but 60 minutes was not enough and we were headed to overtime.

The Washington Capitals had the first chance in the 3 on 3 overtime session as Evgeny Kuznetsov had a breakaway from the redline in and tried to beat Gibson five hole but he held strong and kept things even. Thomas Hickey was able to end the game two minutes into the overtime period after a rebound off Holtby was able to get into the back of the net.

Next: Washington Capitals: Comparing This Season to the Past

The Washington Capitals were unable to close out this game against the Islanders made a comeback after being down two goals in the third and were able to clinch their ticket into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Braden Holtby was unable to tie Brodeur’s NHL record Tuesday night but he will have another chance against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night in DC.

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