Capitals vs Islanders: Will the Caps re-establish their hold of Metro?

The Washington Capitals have been going through an up and down period over the last few weeks. With back to back losses to Metro Division opponents, can they find the same magic from their last meeting with the Islanders?

Following the Washington Capitals showing from Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers, fans have to begin wondering whether the lead the Capitals have in the division is safe for the long term.

The Capitals went down with a poor overall defensive showing 7-2 to the Flyers.

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After trading first period power play goals by Couturier and Oshie, the game came out of the first intermission tied and the look of a even match ahead that might be decided by the final minutes. Sadly the Capitals best hockey for the day was behind them, as they would go on to allow three goals apiece in each of the last two periods.

The only semblance of effort came in the third period with a great attack on the Flyers goalie who let in a soft goal to Evgeny Kuznetsov, which took a lucky slide under Brian Elliott‘s pads for the second score for the Caps.

How can a team leading in its division for so long seem to be so over matched by a division rival? The Washington Capitals have been struggling since entering 2020 to produce a full team defensive effort. Unfortunately for Braden Holtby, he has been the recipient of the bad play more times than not.

Although there were definitely a few of these scores that could be attributed to some lapses in his play, the team did him no favors by leaving him hanging out on an island a number of times. Surprisingly, one of the biggest culprits of this play lately has been the Norris Trophy candidate John Carlson who continually turns the pucks over leading to odd man rushes or breakaways.

Much like the gift he gave Kevin Hayes early on in the game, luckily Holtby handled both the shot and the rebound. For the Capitals to maintain their hold on the division, and be best positioned for a deep playoff run, they will need to improve their team defense through better skating and protection of the puck when they have possession.

With a meeting against the New York Islanders, the Capitals will have the best chance to improve on this front. The Islanders don’t pose the largest scoring threats as they hold the 22nd most goals scored for with 153 goals compared to their defensive ability which has held opposing teams to just 143 goals good for 4th best. With the defensive ability of the Islanders, the Washington Capitals might find it more difficult to break out of the scoring slump the team as a whole is going through, the one exception being Alex Ovechkin.

The other concern the Washington Capitals will need to address coming into this game is the teams issue of committing so many penalties. While the Capitals have the 2nd best PK with 84% this comes from being called for the 4th most penalties at a rate of 10.1 PIM/game. When you spend that much time undermanned it makes getting scoring opportunities that much harder to come by. The team will most likely lean on Samsonov to give Holtby some extended mental refreshment. Can the Capitals maintain their lead in the division? Will Ovechkin close in on number 700 for his career?

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Here is how to follow the action:

Date: Monday. February 10th
Time: 7:00 pm EST
Where: Capital One Arena
TV Broadcast: NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Network
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Caps Radio 24/7
Live Streaming: ESPN+ has a free 7-day trial that includes live streaming for this game on all your smart devices! Besides NHL games, ESPN+ features a selection of live games from MLB, MLS, Serie A, FA Cup, and EFL. Get in on the action with Live UFC Fight Nights, 30+ Top Rank Boxing cards, Grand Slam tennis from Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open.

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