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Islanders vs Capitals Game Two: Odds, Lineups, TV and more

By Kieran Hurley|
TORONTO, ONTARIO – AUGUST 12: Head coach Barry Trotz of the New York Islanders argues a first period call during the game against the Washington Capitals in Game One of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 12, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO – AUGUST 12: Head coach Barry Trotz of the New York Islanders argues a first period call during the game against the Washington Capitals in Game One of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 12, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

The New York Islanders will look to take a two game lead against the Washington Capitals at 8 p.m. tonight. Here’s everything to know about the matchup.

Tonight is a perfect chance for the New York Islanders to take control of their first round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Washington Capitals. If you love physical hockey, tonight is a must watch game between two Metropolitan Division rivals.

Wednesday’s game was a roller coaster ride for Islander fans. The Islanders could not stay out of the box and were down 2-0 late in the second period, but then the blue and orange steamrolled back and scored four unanswered goals to win game one by a score of 4-2.

The Islanders will again be the away team for tonight’s game. This will allow the Capitals to get the last change and play the line matchups they favor to shut down the Islanders offense. The last change has had no effect between these two Metropolitan Division foes lately: The away team is 9-0-0 in the last nine games between the Isles and Caps.

Tale of the Tape

Betting Odds

The Islanders come into today as the underdogs, courtesy of the Action network.

The Islanders have a lot of upside as an underdog in tonight’s matchup. The blue and orange seemed to hit their stride in the third period of game one, while the Capitals fell apart. I expect there to be a lot of physical play tonight, but the Islanders will play their shut down game and stifle the Caps.

I would play the underdogs in this one!

Projected Lineups

The Islanders are not expected to make any lineup changes for tonight’s game. The Islanders dressed the same lineup in back to back games and they have played well. The only issue the Isles will look to correct is staying out of the penalty box. The blue and orange looked great five and five and they cannot afford to give the Capitals any extra scoring opportunities.

Even though Johnny Boychuk is healthy, it is expected Andy Greene will stay in the lineup for tonight’s matchup. Greene had 15:47 of ice time and was a +1 in game one.

Semyon Varlamov is projected to be in the net for game two after stopping 24 of 26 shots on Wednesday.

The Islanders are projected to lineup like this:

Lee-Barzal-Eberle
Beauvillier-Nelson-Bailey
Kamarov-Pageau-Brassard
Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

Pelech-Pulock
Toews-Mayfield
Leddy-Greene

Varlamov (Greiss)

The Capitals are expecting to get a major boost to their lineup tonight. Lars Eller is expected to be back in the lineup after missing game one and is a crucial piece to the Caps lineup, as shown by the tweet below:

Even with that major boost, Nicklas Backstrom suffered an injury in game one and will not play tonight. It is projected that Eller will slot right in Backstrom’s spot as the first line center.

Braden Holtby has been the Capitals number one goalie all year and is expected to be in the net for tonight’s game.

The Capitals are projected to lineup like this:

Ovechkin-Eller-Oshie
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Hagelin-Boyd-Kovalchuk
Panik-Dowd-Hathaway

Kempny-Carlson
Dillon-Orlov
Sigenthaler-Jensen

Holtby (Vanecek)

Where to Catch the Game

TV: MSG, MSG+, NBCSN, FX-CA, TVAS, NBCSWA

Radio: 88.7FM

*All Stats Provided by the NHL*

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