Washington Capitals down Islanders for sixth win in a row

The Washington Capitals are the hottest team in hockey. Point blank. In a battle for first place in the East Divison, the Caps had a dismal first period but dominated the last two periods in a 3-1 win over the New York Islanders. It was their sixth straight win and the Caps have won 10 of their last 11.

The first period was scoreless and the Caps were lucky to keep it that way as it seemed like they were chasing the Islanders. The Islanders outshot the Caps 11-7.

In the second the scoring started. Alex Ovechkin found Evgeny Kuznetsov. Kuznetsov’s shot rang off the post but T.J. Oshie was there for the rebound to put the Caps up 1-0. It was Oshie’s seventh of the season. The goal came at 10:36.

The Caps doubled their lead when they would get a power play opportunity late in the second. Mathew Barzal was called for cross checking Nick Jensen. On the attack, Ovechkin scored right from the office for his 12th goal of the season. Justin Schultz and Nicklas Backstrom had the helpers.

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Ovechkin’s goal passed Phil Esposito for the sixth most goals in NHL history with 718. 2-0 was the score after two periods. The Caps led in shots 7-4.

Backstrom was asked about Ovechkin after the game via Samantha Pell of The Washington Post:

“My answer is pretty simple: We’ve seen him do it year after year. It’s just so impressive. I think the way he shoots the puck, the way he scores, the way he plays the game is just fun to see. As a teammate, you’re just enjoying every moment.”

The Caps added to their lead 28 seconds into the third. John Carlson passed the puck to Backstrom. Backstrom was behind the goal and passed the puck to Jakub Vrana. Backstrom positioned himself in front of the goal and got the pass from Vrana to put it in the net. The goal was a power play tally for his 12th of the season after Scott Mayfield was called for roughing Richard Panik.

Oliver Wahlstrom would get the Islanders on the board with a power play goal but that would be as close as they would get as Ilya Samsonov played arguably his best game of the season. Samsonov made 21 saves out of the 22 shots he faced for a .955 save percentage.

Shots were even at 22 apiece when all was said and done. The Caps led 8-7 in the final period. The Caps were up against Semyon Varlamov, who made 19 saves.

The Caps will open up a two game back to back home set with the New York Rangers beginning Friday night at 7 p.m.