Capitals vs. Islanders Recap: Caps Come Back in Division Dance

In the Capitals and Islanders first meeting of the season it was Washington skating off of New York ice with a 4 to 3 win and two standings points.

Here’s Monday evening’s Plus/Minus:

• Plus: Alex Ovechkin’s primary assist was his fiftieth point of the season (30G, 20A). It also marks the 650th assist of his career.

Minus: Nic Dowd fell injured after a Cal Clutterbuck hit early in the game. He needed assistance leaving the ice and did not return to play.

More notes on the game:

• Early in the first period and Sebastian Aho put the Islanders ahead. After a quick game of catch with Josh Bailey at the blue line Aho fired a shot that found twine from deep downtown.
• Matt Martin extended New York’s lead to two less than ten minutes later with a shot deflection that beat Darcy Kuemper.
• The Islanders continued the offense early in the second frame. A low quality shot from Hudson Faschin somehow went off the far post and into the net behind a surprised Kuemper.
• After thirty minutes of play Washington registered only ten shots on goal against Ilya Sorokin. Things would change shortly though.
• One second later Garnet Hathaway pool cue’d a loose puck over the Islanders goal line. A Marcus Johansson faceoff win and Ovechkin shot immediately preceded Garnet’s goal.
• Three minutes later Tom Wilson and Nicklas Backstrom connected to draw Washington within one. A backhanded Backstrom pass found Wilson’s stick blade and his rising shot bested Sorokin from in tight.
• Midway into the final frame the Capitals drew themselves even at three. A hard shot pass from Erik Gustafsson was redirected by T.J. Oshie in the slot and the puck slipped past Sorokin’s right side.
• Sixty minutes could not determine a winner so the teams went to overtime. Four and a half minutes into the extra session and Dmitry Orlov ended the game with a quick deke and shot from the slot.