The Capitals failed to show up in the first half of this game. Other than a few shifts, the Islanders dominated and led 2-0 before the Capitals knew they were actually playing. It was so bad that Bruce Boudreau had to call time out just to rip into his team who failed to show up at all the night before in Washington. Then at the half way point of the second period Brooks Laich got Washington on the board with a wrist shot that found its way through the goalie gear and into the net. Following the Laich goal the Caps started skating and in the third they took control. With just over two minutes gone by, Laich made a power move from the right wing side and force fed Mike Knuble who popped the puck in the unguarded side of the net to tie the score. Three minutes later Alexander Semin made a hardworking play at Caps line. He fought for the puck with two Islanders then turned up ice where he and Alex Ovechkin came together before Semin took the puck at the Islander blue line and cut across the middle where he performed his patented curl-and-drag into a wicked wrister move. The shot was perfect, top corner of the goal giving the Capitals the 3-2 edge. The Caps proceeded to shut down the Islanders the rest of the way and the team escaped with the win.
Of Note:
Scott Hannan was a force on defense again for the Caps. He was a +2 for the game and blocked a game high 6 shots.
Michal Neuvirth picked up his 19th win of the year by stopping 29 of the 31 shots he faced. The second goal was definitely not his fault as a point shot that looked to be going wide was knocked into the by the Capitals' John Carlson. After the play, Neuvy gave Carlson the evil eye but I think they are friends again.
The Capitals failed to connect on 2 power play attempts and the penalty killers were a perfect 4 for 4.
With Nicklas Backstrom having a broken finger the Caps used some different guys to take the draws. David Steckel was a beast in the dot, as usual, winning 10 of the 15 draws he took. Brooks Laich, Jay Beagle and Boyd Gordon were 50% or better and the Caps won 30 of the 57 draws overall.
John Carlson, Alex Ovechkin, Marcus Johansson, and Brooks Laich each had 1 assist.
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