Capitals: Top 3 impact players to watch against Islanders

The Washington Capitals take on the New York Islanders this afternoon. Let’s dive into the matchup a little more.

Coming off a huge win over the New Jersey Devils behind another hat trick from Alex Ovechkin, the Washington Capitals look to end the first half of the season on a high note before the All Star break.

The Capitals have improved their play overall since their other meeting against the Devils that saw them come up short 5-1. This revenge game had it all and Ovechkin overcame a first period high-sticking to the face non call, came back in the game and wound up scoring three goals.

Carl Hagelin, who had a goal turned away in the first period due to offsides, redeemed himself in the second quarter and Jakub Vrana potted his 21st of the season. The Caps went with Ilya Samsonov for the second straight game and he continued his insane momentum with a 32 save performance on 34 shots, good for a .941 save percentage.

Now the Capitals turn their attention to the Island and former head coach Barry Trotz. It’s always a chess match when these two teams go head to head so let’s dive into the top 3 players who will likely have an impact this afternoon.

Braden Holtby

Braden Holtby has had a down season and with the play of rookie Ilya Samsonov heating up, it begs the question what does the future look like in the crease for the future. It’s an interesting and fascinating concept but for now, in my honest opinion, Holtby and Samsonov is the best one-two goalie punch in the NHL this season.

The last time we saw Holtby in net, the Capitals lost to a lowly New Jersey Devils teamwhere he allowed four goals and made 17 saves on 21 shots for an .810 save percentage. That’s his lowest in his last five games and Holtby has dropped four of those last five.

Samsonov got the start the last two games and he played brilliant. Holtby is in a contract year and in the quest for a raise, he obviously would like to have better starts to increase his value entering the offseason.

Holtby carries an 18-9-4 record. On the surface that looks good. But when you dive deeper into the numbers you see that his goals-against average is at it’s career-highest at 3.02 while his save percentage is at a career-low .899.

A couple games off for Holtby to reset is exactly what we needed. He looked loose on the bench the other night and was smiling at the fun parts of the game. Especially after Ovechkin’s hat trick.

Alex Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin was angry after he took that high sticking non call to the face that had him bleeding. Note to other teams, maybe not the best thing to do to the Washington Capitals superstar.

He turned that anger into another hat trick, his 25th of his career and second of the season. Ovechkin is currently tied with Cy Denneny for ninth place on the all-time hat trick list.

Not only that, Ovechkin’s three goals increased his career total to 689, 11 away from the big 700. He needs just two goals to pass Mario Lemieux for 10th place on the NHL’s all-time goals list.

“Like how I said it never gets old but without my team and without my teammates, I never reach the milestones that I reach,” Ovechkin told the media after the game.

Ovechkin’s first goal came on a shot from the office on the power play. His next one came from that same area but that still won’t get old. Perhaps the best part of Ovechkin’s third goal wasn’t that he crashed the net but rather the sick backhanded pass that Tom Wilson set him up with.

Ovechkin won’t suit up for the All Star Game so by league rules he must sit out either the Capitals final game before the break or first game after the break. He chose to play today.

Those are our top 3 impact players to watch today. You can catch the game at 1 p.m. on NBC Sports Washington.