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In the final game of the season and with nothing left to play for but PRIDE™, could Washington roll into the playoffs on a positive note?
Here’s Saturday night’s Plus/Minus:
Plus: Nobody got injured, nobody got hurt.
Minus: Alex Ovechkin was unable to put any extra room between himself and Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl in the NHL goal-scoring race.
And now, this…
Seven more notes on the game:
1. Well, we’ve finally arrived at Game 82 of 82. The Capitals are Metropolitan Division Champions for the fourth straight year, and were it not so brawny, this game would have been largely academic.
2. But while Washington may have had nothing to play for, the out-of-town scoreboard would decide which team from among Carolina, Columbus, and Pittsburgh the Capitals would play in the first round of the playoffs.
3. This was quite the sleepy game in the first period. Pheonix Copley, in net for Washington for potentially the last time this season, was fantastic in the first frame, saving all 8 shots he faced in the first twenty minutes.
4. In the second period, the Islanders finally struck land. Devon Toews, not to be confused with maybe-relative Jonathan, sprung teammate Valtteri Filppula on a breakaway. Filppula stashed the biscuit in the basket over Copley, and it was 1-0 New York after two.
5. The Capitals attempted to come roaring – er, yawning – back in the third, but it was a backbreaking goal by Filppula (again, Valtteri!) against the run of play that eventually pushed this contest 2-0 for the Islanders.
6. An empty-netter by Matt Martin in the final 2:30 sealed this one for New York, 3-0.
7. Regular Capitals starters John Carlson, Nicklas Backstrom, and T.J. Oshie got the night off tonight, and while Dmitrij Jaskin, Chandler Stephenson, and Jonas Siegenthaler were glad for the ice time, it is unlikely Caps fans will see them too frequently in the playoffs.
That’s it, folks. Now we await the release of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs schedule on Sunday.
Let’s Go Caps!
Game highlights: