Washington Capitals stun Islanders on late goal by Justin Schultz

The Washington Capitals edged the New York Islanders in their first meeting since the bubble thanks to a late goal from Justin Schultz with 27 seconds left. The win improves their record to 4-0-3. The best part? No overtime needed!

The Caps would get a power play in the first and capitalize on it. Matt Martin went to the box for tripping Daniel Sprong. On the attack, Nicklas Backstrom found Schultz. Schultz’s shot went off the glove of goaltender Semyon Varlamov and the puck went right to John Carlson and he knocked it in for his second goal of the season at 11:06.

The Islanders tied it with a goal from Noah Dobson at 15:33. 1-1 would be the score after the first 20 minutes. The Caps outshot the Islanders 17-11.

The second period woes continued. Mathew Barzal gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead with a goal at 10:01. The Caps would tie it with Sprong’s first goal as a Capital. Getting the puck on the rush, he pulled the trigger on a shot right up the middle. The goal came at 17:21 and was assisted by Daniel Carr and Carlson.

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2-2 would be the score after two periods with the Islanders having the edge in shots 14-9 in the second period. The third period was a tight battle but nobody scored. As the minutes ticked away, overtime was looming. Then with 27 seconds left, Schultz had other ideas.

Brenden Dillon got in a pass from behind the net, found Garnet Hathaway and he threaded the needle to Schultz, who shot it right up the middle and knew it was in as he skated over the corner to embrace Carl Hagelin.

The Caps had to battle adversity the last few games as they were shorthanded and there was an occasion where both Lars Eller and Backstrom were hurt and didn’t return to the game. The team has a scheduled off day today so we should know their statuses tomorrow.

Backstrom took a hit from the puck up high, returned to play in the middle of the second but left the game with 3:30 to go in the third. Eller was hit by Leo Komarov from behind along the boards.

Still, it was a gutsy win and it made their point streak extended to seven games. Schultz took us through his goal via Mike Vogel of WashingtonCaps.com:

“Dilly just did a great job from behind the net with great patience. That allowed me to get open for him, and then Hath did a great job along the wall and found me. I was lucky enough for it to go in.”

The Caps and Islanders will meet again on Thursday night at 7 p.m.