Capitals drop shootout to Islanders

The Washington Capitals failed to gain ground, if any, in the wild card by falling to the first place New York Islanders 2-1 in the shootout.

The first period was scoreless as the Caps led in shots 7-3. In the second period Pierre Engvall gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 3:52. At 6:22 Conor Sheary tied it with his 15th goal of the season. 1-1 was the score after two as the Caps led in shots 10-8 in the second period.

The third period was scoreless as the Islanders outshot the Caps 15-5 in the third. The game would require overtime. Nobody scored in the extra session as the Caps outshot the Islanders 4-3. Shots were 29-26 in favor of the Islanders.

The Caps went first in the shootout and Evgeny Kuznetsov did his signature slow mo drive to the net before putting the goalie to sleep by putting it in. Sadly the lead was short lived as Bo Horvat scored on the other end.

T.J. Oshie then got stopped while Kyle Palmieri scored. Nicklas Backstrom got stopped, failing to keep the game alive and giving the Islanders a 2-1 lead to widen their wild card lead.

Backstrom spoke to the media about the loss, shifting the focus to the next game, “We have a game tomorrow, we have an opportunity to bounce back and get two points. That’s what our mindset has gotta be.”

The Capitals take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road tonight. So their mindset is to leave this loss in D.C. jump on a plane and try again down in Florida. You can catch the game at 7 p.m. on NBC Sports Washington.

The loss in the shootout drops the Caps record to 34-32-9 with 77 points. That’s a three way tie for fourth place in the wild card. The Caps are four points behind the Florida Panthers for third. They are five behind the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Islanders have all but clinched it as they are 10 points ahead.

There’s seven games left so buckle up. And if they miss the playoffs it’s all about next year.