Hello All,

Here are the stats from the game and below that are my takeaways:

Shots on Goal:

WSH – 30

NYI – 24


Shots on Goal (5v5):

WSH – 30

NYI – 20


Faceoff %:

WSH – 49.1%

NYI – 50.9%


Power Play:

WSH – 0/1

NYI – 2/2


Hits:

WSH – 28

NYI - 36


Blocks:

WSH – 12

NYI– 12


Scoring Chances For:

WSH – 28

NYI – 26



Scoring Chances For (5v5):

WSH – 27

NYI – 22



High Danger Chances For:

WSH – 11

NYI – 14


High Danger Chances For: (5v5):

WSH – 11

NYI – 11



Here are my takeaways from the game:

Sprong Into the Lineup – The Capitals have a ton of depth on the offensive side of the puck. As a result, Sprong has been in and out of the lineup throughout the season. In the games he has played, Sprong has in large part played extremely well. With Alex Ovechkin missing this game against the Islanders, Sprong was sprung back into the lineup, specifically on the top line to replace Ovechkin. Sprong had two goals in this game with three shots on goal. His second goal was the patented set play off the faceoff in the offensive zone that would typically go to Ovechkin. Sprong was brought to DC to provide depth scoring and I feel like he has found a perfect home here in Washington. Sprong just needs to keep skating and keep shooting cause good things seem to happen when he is doing those things. He reminds me of Vrana the way he can skate with speed up the ice. I really hope Sprong becomes an integral part of the lineup down the stretch. The Michael Raffl addition is solid but he creates a little chaos who is the odd man out for the third and fourth line. When healthy, the Capitals should really just sit Hathaway and throw Sprong on the third line then bump Raffl down to the 4th. The issue with that move is it breaks up the very cohesive sandpaper 4th line of Hagelin-Dowd-Hathaway. Tough call. I just hate to see Sprong sitting.

Islanders Special Teams Drive Offense – The Islanders scored three goals, all of which were on the special teams. They scored two power play goals and one short-handed goal. That was the Capitals 8th short-handed goal allowed this season and 4th in their last nine games which is worst in the league. It felt like the Islanders were noticeably pressing hard on that lone PK so maybe that was intentional on their part. It is no secret the Caps give up tons of shorties. The Islanders have been really struggling to generate offense as of late. If New York is looking to take away any positives from this game, special teams will certainly be a bright spot for them. Three goals is decent for them. Considering the Islanders GA/GP and above average goaltending they typically get, three goals would normally enough to put them in position to win a lot of games. This is only the 3rd time in 48 games the Islanders have allowed 6 goals or more. The two other times were against Washington and Pittsburgh. Sorokin did not have his best game today.

Samsonov Another Strong Start– Ilya Samsonov got the rare back-to-back start in net for the Capitals. For the most part this season, Laviolette has rode Samsonov and Vanecek 50-50 with them both now at full health. In my last poll, I asked the Hockeybuzz community who they would rather start for the Capitals in a must-win game, Vanecek or Samsonov? Samsonov got 129 votes (64%) and Vanecek got 73 votes (36%). Samsonov got the shutout on Thursday and played relatively well last night against the Islanders. The short-handed goal from Pelech at the blue line on the rush was…different. It is actually quite impressive Pelech was able to rip that shot five-hole from that distance. Overall, I think the Capitals should and will ride Samsonov down the stretch for a majority of games to get him fully geared up for (knock on wood) the playoffs. I truly feel a healthy dose on Samsonov for the rest of the season will pay huge dividends for his comfort in net come playoff time.

The Capitals and Islanders will finish off the season series on Tuesday at 7pm ET in Washington D.C. The Capitals are 5-2-0 against the Islanders head to head this season. This could very easily be another first round playoff matchup.

Thanks for reading, GO CAPS

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