Washington Capitals Lose to New York Islanders 3-1

The Capitals are another good team that presented a challenge for the Islanders. The game against the Capitals is the first of 15 back-to-backs for the Islanders. For this one, they are on the road for both games.

Thursday, Matthew Schaefer and Simon Holmstrom both scored, but the Islanders dug themselves into a hole early and could not climb their way out. The Hurricanes took a 3-0 lead halfway through the first period, and the Capitals will try to emulate that. Did you think the Islanders had much of a chance against the Capitals?

Capitals Lose To Islanders 3-1

The Capitals have lost two straight games, despite being 6-4 on the season. They most recently lost 1-0 to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, where Tyler Seguin scored and Jake Oettinger pitched a 24-save shutout. That said, the Capitals were clearly the better team. They had 13 shots and 8 high-danger chances in the first period alone. New York’s star goaltender, Ilya Sorokin, made several great saves. It was about time he played well.

Here is the scoring summary of the 3-1 Islanders’ victory against the Capitals. In the first period, there were no goals scored. The Islanders were lucky. They were outshot 13-6, and many of the Washington shots were of the high danger variety. Sorokin played very well and made several spectacular saves.

In the second period, Tom Wilson scored for the Capitals, making it 1-0 Washington. If a team throws pucks on the net, good things will happen. Then Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Islanders’ goal to knot the game at 1. It was a short-handed goal.

In the third period, Bo Horvat scored to make it 2-1 Islanders. It was his seventh goal already. Then, Matthew Barzal scored an empty net goal, and it was 3-1 Islanders. That is how the game ended. It was an unexpected win.

Calum Ritchie’s Islanders Debut

Calum Ritchie is a top Islanders prospect and was recalled from the Bridgeport Islanders on Friday, and will make his Islanders debut against the Capitals. He was going to play last night against the Hurricanes, but bad weather canceled his flight.

Ritchie played three games for Bridgeport this season, getting a point in each game. He played seven NHL games for the Colorado Avalanche last season. Ritchie is excited, he said, “I’m so excited. I’ve been trying to work on all the things I need to get back to this level. At the NHL level, it’s a dream. I’m really excited to play for the Islanders tonight and put on that jersey for the first time in a regular season game.”

News and Notes

Barzal was back in the Islanders’ lineup tonight. He will team with Matthew Schaefer and Ritchie to give the Islanders three fast players.

Alex Ovechkin, the great 8, was in his 1,500th game on Saturday, becoming the 24th player in NHL history to achieve the feat. He has 899 goals coming into this game. He broke Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record against the Islanders last season.

David Rittich played on Thursday against the Hurricanes. Sorokin got the start against Washington on Friday. In his career, Sorokin is 4-5-1 lifetime against the Capitals with a .920 SV% and a 2.41 GAA. Though he has struggled mightily this season.

The Islanders trail the Capitals in the season series 0-1-0 after they fell 4-2 in the home opener on Oct. 11. So, there is a history between these teams.

The Capitals outshot the Islanders 13-6 in the first period. Many of the Washington shots were from right in front of the net, also known as high danger shots. Sorokin played unbelievably well in the first period. The fact that he faced high danger shots was nothing new; coming into the game, he had faced 77 high danger shots, which was in the 91st percentile.

Conclusion

It was funny as the Islanders wrapped up their four-game road trip with a game against the Capitals. Commentators said it should be the Islanders’ goal to secure five points on this road trip. They got three.

It was good that Ritchie made his Islanders debut tonight. We need to see more of that; young players need to play. They make mistakes, but are fast and exciting. They deserve some on-the-job training. The Islanders head home to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday afternoon.