New York Islanders Lose 4-1 to Tom Wilson and Washington Capitals (Highlights)

With three points Tom Wilson pushed the Washington Capitals to a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders.

New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz was facing his former club the Washington Capitals for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup last summer. A win would be nice to stick it to your former employer who just didn’t want to pay you.

Barry Trotz, Lane Lambert, and Mitch Korn all got their 2018 Stanley Cup rings before the game. Maybe the sight of some Stanley Cup bling could inspire the Isles to a third straight win.

It started off about as well as you could have imagine with non other that

Valtteri Filppula

starting things off.

First Period

For the second straight game Valtteri Filppula has scored a goal on the New York Islanders first shot of the game.

The last time out he picked up a

highlight reel goal against the Carolina Hurricanes

. This one was a bit more straight forward as Filppula picks up the puck in the slot and fires a backhand to the back of the net.

That was Filppula’s seventh goal in 23 games. He had eleven in 81 games last season. He’s on pace for 24.

Just two and a half minutes later public enemy number on, Tom Wilson scored his fifth of the year. Thomas Greiss will wish he could get another crack at that as it squeezed between his five hole.

For large portions of the opening frame the Washington Capitals were passing the puck around the Isles for fun. Resulting in a full 8:47 without a whistle.

Second Period

The New York Islanders were the worse of the two teams in period one, but in period two they flipped the script…sorta.

The Islanders out shot the Capitals 10-3 in the period and had two power play opportunities, but the Caps were the ones to get a goal.

Nic Dowd picks up a back pass from Dmitri Jaskin and cranks a wrist shot top shelf on Thomas Greiss’ short side.

Third Period

The Islanders continued getting pucks towards Braden Holtby but couldn’t get anything to go. That frustration manifested itself in terms of penalty trouble as the Isles take two penalties, creating a 5on3 situation.

They managed to kill the first penalty, but finally the Capitals got one to go when Tom Wilson scored his second goal of the game.

Alex Ovechkin would add an empty netter cementing the 4-1 loss for the New York Islanders.

The New York Islanders played well today but a weak goal or two on Thomas Greiss and weaker power play cost the Isles the game.

Three Stars

1. Not Tom Wilson: No. No. No.

He probably deserves it, but I just can’t give Tom Wilson a first star.

2. Tom Wilson: 2 goals, 1 assist

With those two goals and that helper Wilson now has 12 points in eight games. Its terrible to think Wilson is over a point per game, but here we are.

3. Nicklas Backstrom: 3 assists 

The creator in chief for the Washington Capitals continued with three helpers.