When asked which of his two goals he liked best tonight, Evgeni Kuznetsov answered simply, "The one Alzner scored."
Even after putting up three points tonight (2g, 1a), the Caps rookie gave credit the veteran defenseman that scored the game winning goal tonight. Karl Alzner scored his second of the playoffs off a Jason Chimera feed from behind the net to give the Caps a 2-1 advantage in the second period, and Washington never looked back.
Jaroslav Halak was chased in the third after giving up 5 unanswered goals, including two by Kutznetsov, who gave the Caps added insurance during a game in which Halak was a wall for the first two periods. Halak finished with 30 saves before former Cap Michael Neuvirth replaced him.
Braden Holtby saw 23 shots come his way and was solid through three periods, but was never really tested after the first as the Capitals held control of most the game firing 41 shots on goal in total.
Tom Wilson defended his honor when Anders Lee decided it was a good idea to stand up for his teammate Lubomir Visnovsky, who was hit by a train in Game 4 and has been out since. Lee, and the other thousands of viewers watching, realized quickly that fighting Wilson may not have been the best idea. The two received fighting majors.
For the most part, the game was calm with some scrums here and there. There hasn't really been any bad blood save for the Wilson hit on Visnovsky, and the Islanders pretty much took the high road and kept playing their game instead take Wilson's bait.
Washington played an aggressive game, matching the Islanders speed and winning the puck battles that they have continuously lost in the previous games. If the Caps can keep that kind of game up on Saturday, then we may see the last ever game in Nassau Colosseum.
Brooks Laich and Jason Chimera also scored for the Caps.
Alex Ovechkin was relatively quiet tonight. He made some good plays, but was held off nicely by Johnny Boychuk. Ovechkin finished with only one shot on goal.
The secondary scoring for the Caps finally came through tonight, and that is something we've been missing since the last few games of the regular season. They didn't have to rely on Backstrom or Ovechkin playing a clutch game. They won their battles and found their spots, picking apart the Islanders defense after bad giveaways by New York.
This was the kind of game we've been expecting of the Capitals. This is Barry Trotz hockey, and it's about damn time they decided to play it.
Go Caps.
More to come...