New York Islanders Barry Trotz came away with a ring while hosting his former club but it was the Capitals and Tom Wilson who came away with the two points as Washington extended their winning streak to six games with 4-1 victory at Barclay’s Center.
Wilson is one of the hottest players in the NHL right now. For anyone outside DC that may come as a hard pill to swallow, but those who Rock The Red know how valuable a player he can be...when he’s dressed. With 2 goals and 3 points against the Islanders, TopLineWilly as he’s referred to, now has 6 goals and 6 assists in the 8 games since returning to the lineup on Nov 13 vs Minnesota including goals now in 4 straight games.
TOM WILSON: SO HOT RIGHT NOW 🔥🔥🔥#TomWilsonIsAwesome pic.twitter.com/JBs1qhT71X
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) November 27, 2018
The game started out with a bang as the Islanders struck just 36 seconds in making it 1-0 when Valtteri Filppula beat Caps starter Braden Holtby with a backhand after a turnover which Ryan Pulock picked up and fed Filppula in front.
The Caps didn’t take long to reply as the hot Wilson scored his 5th to tie the game 1-1 a couple minutes later at 2:50 as he buried a low wrister past Isles goalie Thomas Greiss after a slick pass by Nicklas Backstrom to break him in. The assist on the play by Backstrom tied him with Peter Bondra for 2nd place all-time in franchise scoring with 825 points.
After the Caps played well for most of the first period they allowed the Islanders a couple power plays in the first four minutes of the 2nd frame and the Islanders had some chances but Washington’s penalty kill unit held strong and just after the second killed penalty of the period the Caps went up 2-1 on a Nic Dowd goal. Dmitrij Jaskin made a nice drop pass to Dowd who fired a wicked wrist shot for his 3rd of the year from the faceoff circle over Greiss’ shoulder.
The 2nd period has been the Caps best so far this season but after Dowd’s goal they took another penalty and while they killed it off they finished with only 3 shots on goal allowing 10.
After the fourth Caps penalty was called early in the 3rd when Wilson was called for interference the Caps penalty kill again battled to keep the lead and have shown over the last few games steady improvement.
#ALLCAPS PK has been perfect in 3 consecutive games for 1st time this season. Additionally, after the PK went 43/60 in the first 16 games (71.7%), the PK has gone 20/23 (87.0%) in the 7 games since Tom Wilson returned
— Ben Raby (@BenRaby31) November 26, 2018
It was Washington’s turn to finally get the power play with 8 minutes left after getting no calls up to that point and found themselves with a 5 on 3 when the Islanders were called for another penalty 30 seconds after the first started. The Caps deadly power play could not cash in with the two man advantage but Wilson would score his 6th and second of the night just before the second penalty expired to give the Caps the 3-1 lead. Backstrom made a nice feed to the slot where Wilson buried a one-time shot much like the injured TJ Oshie sets up for.
Alex Ovechkin would score into the empty net to seal the victory for Washington and finish the game with a 4-1 win in their first game vs Barry Trotz. The goal moved Ovechkin into a tie for 3rd in NHL scoring with Carolina’s Jeff Skinner one behind Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine and Boston’s David Pastrnak (19) and also moved him into a tie with Jarome Iginla and Joe Sakic for 15th place all-time with 625 goals. Backstrom’s 3rd assist of the game on the play leaves him with 827 points and now sole possession of 2nd place in all-time franchise scoring behind Ovechkin.
Braden Holtby continues his hot stretch as it’s no coincidence the Caps are also winning. He looks like he has regained his playoff form of late making 32 saves in the win.
#ALLCAPS Braden Holtby is 4-0-0 since returning from upper-body injury with a 1.08 G.A.A. and .970SV% @CapitalsRadio
— Ben Raby (@BenRaby31) November 27, 2018
The win keeps the Caps one point up on Columbus for the division lead with 31 points as they now sit idle until Friday night when they face the New Jersey Devils at 7PM EST at Capital One Arena in DC.
Capital Gain:
Evgeny Kuznetsov - skated yesterday after the Caps practice marking his first time back on the ice since concussion injury. He looks close to returning.
TJ Oshie - did not travel with the club and unlike Kuznetsov he has not been seen on the ice. Not a good situation for a player with a history like his. Unfortunate to say the least.