Capitals Complete Comeback in Style with Overtime Win Over Islanders

The Washington Capitals defeated the New York Islanders in true comeback fashion Monday night, coming out victorious 4-3 at UBS Arena. After dropping two games in a row to the Flyers, the Capitals continued to shake up the lineup, where Lars Eller was healthy scratched for the first time this season.

Sebastian Aho of the Islanders opened the scoring 4:24 into the game, with a shot from the point that beat a screened Darcy Kuemper. Aho’s icebreaker now marks the third game in a row that the Capitals have surrendered the first goal of the game. The Islanders extended their lead with just under 7 minutes to play in the opening period, on a tip goal through a screen, credited to forward, Matt Martin. The Capitals failed to generate much offense in the first period, getting outshot 11-5, while heading into the break down a pair.

The Islanders would add one more goal before the Capitals decided to turn the jets on, when Hudson Fasching made it 3-0 early in the middle frame. Garnet Hathaway and Tom Wilson got things going for the Capitals, cutting the Islanders lead to one, with the two scoring just over 3 minutes apart. It was Wilson’s first goal of the season in his fourth game back, after missing the majority of the season undergoing an ACL surgery back in May.

The second period started to heat up, consisting of some rough stuff between both teams. More notably a hard hit by Alex Ovechkin on Islanders’ forward, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, that got Islanders fans intrigued and seemed to have lit a spark within’ the Capitals bench.

After outshooting the Islanders 14-6 in the second, the Capitals continued their momentum in the third period, tying the game off of a nice deflection goal, courtesy of T.J. Oshie. Both teams would continue to have their chances in the final period, but ultimately, extra time was needed to solve this one.

It was Dmitry Orlov who played the hero in the overtime period. A wonderful pass by Oshie and an even better move by Orlov completed the comeback for the Capitals earning a well needed two points. The Capitals outshot the Islanders in the game by a total of 35-30, with both teams going 0-1 on the power play.

The Capitals improved to 24-16-6 on the season, and continue to sit 4th in the Metropolitan division, good for the first wild card spot. Alex Ovechkin and company will be back in action Tuesday night, as they welcome the Minnesota Wild to Capital One Arena. Game time will commence at 7:00 PM EST.