The Washington Capitals began their two-game weekend New York trip in Long Island on Friday night in an epic battle for first place in the Metropolitan Division. Looking for payback after the Islanders, coached by former Capitals bench boss Barry Trotz, defeated the Capitals back in January, Washington rallied with goals from Jakub Vrana and Alex Ovechkin en route to a 3-1 win.
The win improves the Capitals record to 37-21-7, with 81 points. They’re now tied with the Islanders for first place in the Metropolitan Division. Also noteworthy is that the Hurricanes have slid into third place after winning four in a row.
The Islanders, coming off an emotional win over John Tavares and the Maple Leafs the night before, stormed out the gates to take a 1-0 lead 2:43 into the game with a goal from Tom Kuhnhackl. Kuhnhackl pounced on an errant pass from Dmitry Orlov for a breakaway.
Casual goal by Kuhnhackl #CapsIsles pic.twitter.com/3LIvxtuopt
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) March 2, 2019
The Capitals outshot the Islanders 12-9 in the first period and 7-4 in the second. They also killed off both of their penalties, one in the first and the other in the second. They still trailed 1-0 entering the final period.
On the day after his birthday, Vrana tied the game at 3:26 for his 19th goal of the year with a great finish in front of the net.
Happy (belated) birthday for V! Gets the #Caps on the board tie it up in the 3rd #CapsIsles pic.twitter.com/w8BgW1FaPF
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 2, 2019
The momentum began to shift toward the defending Stanley Cup champs. At 4:21 Anders Lee went to the sin bin for interference on Nicklas Backstrom, putting the Capitals on the power play. 13 seconds later, Ovechkin took advantage of a rebound off the pads of Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss to score his 45th goal of the season and give the Capitals a 2-1 lead. Ovechkin is now the first player in NHL history to score 45 or more goals in 10 seasons.
OVI ALLEY-OOP!! #CapsIsles pic.twitter.com/6WpgoNDWi2
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 2, 2019
T.J. Oshie would seal the game with an empty net goal that he got credit for when Josh Bailey put it in his own goal. It would be Oshie’s 21st of the season.
Well that was...something. Osh babe will get credit for that one #CapsIsles pic.twitter.com/A6thtB6oC2
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 2, 2019
The Capitals have now won three in a row and five of their last six. They continue their road trip on Sunday afternoon in Manhattan against the Rangers. Puck drop is at 12:30 p.m. and you can catch the game nationally on NBC.