Capitals come back to stun Islanders
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the Washington Capitals this season it’s don’t count them out.
The Washington Capitals looked like a dead team walking, almost like they did against the New Jersey Devils about a week ago. Unlike that contest, however, the Capitals rallied from a three goal deficit to down the New York Islanders 6-4 on the road.
The Caps got on the board first with Nicklas Backstrom feeding Alex Ovechkin with a long pass down ice that Ovechkin finished with a breakaway at 10:22. His goal was the 690th of his career, tying Pittsburgh Penguins legend Mario Lemieux.
Since that goal, the Capitals gave up four unanswered goals as it looked like the Islanders would seize the day. Brock Nelson tied it at 13:11 while Casey Cizikas gave them the lead at 15:49. 2-1 Islanders was the score heading into the first intermission with shots square at 11 apiece.
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In the second, Jordan Eberle (9:31 on the power play) and Devon Toews (17:25) lit the lamp to go up 4-1. Towes even had a celly to compliment the goal but it wasn’t an original idea. It was Evgeny Kuznetsov‘s bird celebration to mock the Capitals. New York had the edge in shots 11-8 and a 4-1 lead heading into the final period.
In the third, the Capitals answered that mock by scoring five unanswered goals. Carl Hagelin got things started at 2:33 by scoring his third goal of the season. It was also the second straight game he scored. Hagelin’s goal came off a great pass from Richard Panik in front of the net. Nick Jensen had the secondary assist.
Ovechkin passed Lemieux at 5:18 with his 691st goal of his career with a dirty curl and drag move that finished with a backhander. John Carlson had the assist.
The Caps tied the game at four with a blast from Dmitry Orlov that was tipped in by Tom Wilson with 5:28 to go in the game. It was Wilson’s 14th of the season. Carlson was credited with the secondary, bringing his assist total up to 47.
The Caps took the lead with 2:30 left thanks to Jakub Vrana on a play that almost looked like a basketball steal and slam dunk. That’s exactly what Vrana did as he stole the puck in the neutral zone and brought it home with a shot from the right face-off circle.
Ovechkin finished the hat trick with an empty net goal, assisted by T.J. Oshie to put a bow on an incredible comeback.
Related Story. Ovechkin record a hat trick in Capitals win over Devils. light
The Capitals started this game with Braden Holtby in goal. He had another horrid outing giving up four goals on 22 shots that his day ended when he was benched for Ilya Samsonov. Samsonov stopped all seven shots that he faced as the team completed their comeback.