Snap Shots: New York Islanders @ Washington Capitals – 11/5/13

Nov 5, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals right wing Alex Ovechkin (8) skates with the puck past New York Islanders center Frans Nielsen (51) in the first period at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to ‘Snap Shots’, our condensed, quick-fix post-game follow up after every match.

Gives you, the reader, bulleted results/impressions/reactions of the game in a flash.

——————————————————————————————————————————–

New York Islanders (6-5-3, 15pts) at Washington Capitals (7-7-0, 14pts)

Verizon Center, November 5th, 2013

Game 15

Islanders (2) – Capitals (6) 

SOG: 36-39 WSH

Pre-Game Quips & Questions (Stats courtesy of NYI Gameday Notes)

Tonight’s match-up against the Washington Capitals marks the beginning of a four game road trip, three of which are against Metropolitan Division foes.

Both the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals are riding a two game winning streak into Washington. The Capitals have been able to do so without their superstar Alex Ovechkin, who returns after missing two games due to a right shoulder injury. Although the Capitals seemed to do fine without their captain, having Ovechkin back in the lineup creates extra work for the Isles.

The Islanders look to continue getting pucks to the net. Averaging 45.5 shots per game in their last two wins, the Isles have proved that relentless offense and pay in the offensive zone creates opportunities, and pucks find the back of the net. Braden Holtby gets the start tonight for the Capitals, who is rocking a solid .921 SV%, with a 2.75 GAA.

Many fans were up in arms earlier today when it was announced Evegni Nabokov would get the start tonight. After Kevin Poulin’s phenomenal game against the Bruins, fans believed Poulin not only deserved the start, but it was necessary as well to keep the momentum rolling in Poulin’s favor. However, Nabokov’s best numbers against any team come when playing the Capitals. Nabokov is 12-1-3 with a .926 in his career against the Caps. If this trend continues tonight, this decision was an obvious one.

——————————————————————————————————————————–

Lineups

Forward Lines:

• Vanek-Tavares-Okposo
• Bouchard-Nielsen-Bailey
• Grabner-Regin-Clutterbuck
• Nelson-Cizikas-Martin

Defense Pairings:

• MacDonald-Hamonic
• Hickey-Carkner
• Donovan-Martinek

Goal:

• Evgeni Nabokov

Scratches

• Lubomir Visnovsky – Upper body (IR)
• Brian Strait – Upper body (IR)
• Colin McDonald – Lower body
• Eric Boulton – Healthy scratch

——————————————————————————————————————————–

Goals

• Period 1: (05:58) John Tavares (7) Frans Nielsen, Kyle Okposo 1-0
• Period 2: (03:06) John Carlson (2) Unassisted 1-1
• Period 2: (04:21) Alex Ovechkin (11) Nicklas Backstrom 2-1
• Period 2: (04:38) Kyle Okposo (5) John Tavares, Andrew MacDonald 2-2
• Period 2: (06:50) Marcus Johansson (1) Troy Brouwer, Nicklas Backstrom 3-2
• Period 2: (08:10) Alexander Urbom (1) Tom Wilson, Steve Oleksy 4-2
• Period 2: (17:18) Alex Ovechkin (12) Marcus Johansson, Nicklas Backstrom 5-2
• Period 3: (15:59) Tom Wilson (1) Alex Ovechkin, Mikhail Grabovski 6-2

Penalties

• Period 1: (03:58) Mikhail Grabovski. High-sticking
• Period 1: (11:37) Pierre-Marc Bouchard. Hooking
• Period 1: (18:09) Mike Green. Hooking
• Period 2: (04:18) Cal Clutterbuck. Tripping
• Period 2: (06:15) Matt Carkner. Slashing
• Period 2: (16:57) Thomas Vanek. Interference
• Period 3: (02:12) Steve Olesky. Tripping
• Period 3: (06:04) Jason Chimera. Holding the stick
• Period 3: (12:15) Tom Wilson. Interference
• Period 3: (15:25) Thomas Hickey. Holding
• Period 3: (18:24) Cal Clutterbuck. Roughing
• Period 3: (18:24) Troy Brouwer. Roughing
• Period 3: (18:24) Peter Regin. Misconduct

——————————————————————————————————————————–

+/

Period One

• John Tavares takes a stick to the face, drawing the first power play of the night for the Isles.
• Power play very strong. Beautiful pass from Frans Nielsen after Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo try to make something happen provides an open net for Tavares.
• Penalty kill great during the Capitals first man advantage, especially Evgeni Nabokov who made some solid saves.
• Coming off the bench, Josh Bailey picks up a puck with a helpful bounce off the referee and draws a hooking penatly for the second power play for the Isles.

Period Two

• Immediately after the Capitals go up 2-1, Kyle Okposo gets a nice feed from Andrew MacDonald and scores on a great wrist shot over Braden Holtby’s glove.

Period Three

• Islanders draw a few of penalties.
• Isles allow another goal, Tom Wilson’s first of his career.

/-

Period One

• Capitals in the first couple of minutes apply lots of pressure. A few good opportunities from the Caps to start the games.
• Pierre-Marc Bouchard is called for a hooking penalty. Isles go on the penalty kill.

Period Two

• A terrible turnover by Kyle Okposo in the Islanders zone is picked up by John Carlson who has a wide open shooting path and capitalizes for a goal.
• Penalty kill does a 180 from the first period. Ovechkin scores immediately off the faceoff after the Cal Clutterbuck penalty. Capitals score another PP goal due to an outnumbered rush as the Islanders change lines.
• Islanders overall outplayed in the second period. The Capitals came out with a sense of urgency after being down 1-0 heading into the first intermission.

Period Three

• Nothing doing on the three power plays the Islanders went on in the third…0-5 for the game.
• Penalty kill continues to be terrible. Capitals finish the game going 4 for 5 on the power play.

——————————————————————————————————————————–

Post-Game Responses & Reactions

• The first period saw a lot of skating back and fourth. It was very much a 200 foot period. Evgeni Nabokov had a strong first, stopping all eleven shots sent his way, including some saves that had to come on consecutive shots/rebounds. Special teams were strong on both fronts. Although the Capitals had some good chances on their power play, the Islanders fought off the attack to kill the only man advantage of the period for the Caps. The first period ended with 11 shots a piece.
• The second period was quite different from the first. The Islanders were outplayed and the Capitals took advantage of a couple of bad Islanders penalties and miscues. The Capitals went on the power play three times in the second period. The Capitals score three times on the power play in the second period. Hands down the worst period this season. Isles outshot 27-21.
• What was seen in Washington was the unfortunate case of “which team will show up.” However, the Isles put on their best “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” performance. Evgeni Nabokov and the rest of the team played a strong first period but a completely different squad showed up for the remaining 40 minutes of play. The penalty kill was a horrid 20% and the Islanders overall were outplayed and outworked. Not many strong points from tonight’s game, but hopefully the team puts this one past them as they head to Carolina on Thursday.