Thanksgiving Leftovers

Today was Thanksgiving leftovers day. That means back to back days of turkey and all of its accouterments. So it probably made sense that the Islanders traveled to Washington on Friday to play the second half of back to back games against the Capitals. They were coming off an exciting 3-2 overtime win at the Nassau Coliseum on Wednesday. Surprisingly, Capuano went with Chad Johnson in net. Halak will most likely go tomorrow against the Devils. Holtby was in again for Washington. Only other item of note was that Brian Strait was in for Johnny Boychuk, who is day today with an upper body injury.

The Islanders played a great opening 10 minutes of the first period. They had a lot of jump and dictated play. In fact they had the first six shots on goal. Then a little bit after the 12 minute mark Matt Martin hooked Ovechkin. You can guess what happened after that. The Capitals scored on the resulting power-play goal by Niskanen to take a 1-0 lead. Johnson really did not have a chance. As good as everything has been this year, the penalty kill has been equally as bad. The Islanders came into the game with the second-worst penalty kill unit in the league. The Islanders tried very hard to get the equalizer before the end of the period. However, just the opposite happened. Washington got a break out and Johannson wristed one over the right shoulder of Johnson for 2-0 lead. It was not a very good goal and should have been stopped.

Just when you thought that the Islanders were going to go into the intermission down two goals, the unexpected happened. With about two minutes left John Tavares banged in his 10th goal of the year from Leddy and Okposo to cut the lead in half. That would've been good enough but the Islanders were not done yet. It was only 31 seconds later that the Islanders tied the game with a goal from Anders Lee. It was Lee's 5th goal of the year from Hamonic and Czikas. It was an impressive comeback by the Islanders that only took a couple of minutes. It was only fair because they totally outplayed Washington in the first 20 minutes. Johnson did not look sharp even though the rest of the team was flying around the rink. The Islanders out shot the opposition 11–5 in the opening frame. The Islanders netminder would need to pick up his game if they were going to win this one.

In the second, it wasn't too long before the Capitals got their second power play of the game. However, you should really sit down for this one, the Islanders managed to kill it off. I know it's hard to believe but miracles do happen. It seemed that Johnson was a lot sharper in the period. Must be a trend with him. Maybe it's a function of being the backup goaltender. That probably explains why he is 5–2 coming into this game even though he had a high goals against average. Then about midway during the period, Washington reclaimed the lead 3-2 on a goal by Ovechkin. New York got their first power play in the game with about five minutes left in the period. However, Okposo fanned on a one-timer and the Islanders couldn't convert. Washington got the better of the shots on goal during the period with a 13–8 edge.

As the third period started I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that the Islanders were going to lose this game. After all, you can't win them all. Halfway through the last frame, Washington extended the lead to 4-2 on a goal by Kuznetsov. The Islanders got the chance to get one back with a power-play at the nine minute mark. however, they failed to convert once again. The Islanders pulled Johnson with about two minutes left in the game. However, the two goals lead was just too much to overcome. The Capitals added a empty net goal to make it a 5–2 final. Shots were even in the third, and I'll there's even out shot Washington for the 28-27.

Vinosky left the game with an upper body injury. That's never a good sign, considering his past with concussions. Now that the winning streak is over, it's fair to say that a couple of players are struggling a bit. Okposo, Nielsen and Grabovski have not scored in quite a while. The penalty kill a struggling also. I think it's time to get Michael Grabner on the ice stat. I would not be surprised if he laced up the skates for tomorrow evening's game against the Devils at the Nassau Coliseum. If the defense is hurting tomorrow, you will probably see Donovan get back in a game and you might see Ryan Pulock brought up from Bridgeport. He is leading the Sound Tigers with 8 goals as a defenseman this year. He will most likely help out the power play quite a bit with his big slap shot.

Can't be too upset about this one. Like I said earlier, you can't win them all. In honor of Black Friday, I'm going to do pretty much what all retailers are doing today. I'm going to significantly discount this game. It's just one game. On to the next one. Time to start a new streak tomorrow.