Following a close loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in their season opener, the New York Islanders sought to give their fans a better showing in their home opener. The Long Island crowd made it known that they approved of the offseason changes and were especially excited to welcome their first overall pick, Matthew Schaefer, to the Island.
The Islanders were quick to get the puck down into the Capitals’ zone, but struggled to keep zone pressure. With the Capitals in the zone, they were quite active, drawing the home team out of position. In combination with a bouncing puck along the boards and an attempted shot by Alexander Ovechkin, Martin Fehervary had a good enough look to wrist it past Ilya Sorokin on the Capitals’ first true shot of the night. Down a goal, the Islanders looked for more pressure following the goal, seemingly unshaken, but could not remain on the attack. Washington maintained fantastic puck control, especially on the blue line, for the majority of the first six minutes of play. A rush up the ice by the Islanders gave Ryan Pulock and Anthony Duclair some chances, but the Capitals’ defense stood their ground.
Back in the Islanders’ zone, Sorokin continued to show his expertise in the crease, sprawling to save what should have been a “gimme” for former Islander, Anthony Beauvillier. Schaefer was giving his home fans a great show, pushing the puck up the ice multiple times in the middle of the first. A giveaway in the neutral zone led to a chance for Casey Cizikas to skate up the right side of the boards, but was unable to find Maxim Tsyplakov’s blade for the tip in. The Islanders finally found some shots shortly after the halfway mark of the period had passed—not finding the back of the net, though. Duclair and Bo Horvat connected for a strong shot that went just wide of the net. A missed connection by Simon Holmstrom left Aliaskei Protas all alone behind the Islanders’ defense, allowing him to easily find the net, putting the Capitals up two.
With some quick back-and-forth down the ice, Adam Pelech worked hard to supress Matt Roy’s chance all alone in front of Sorokin, keeping the Capitals at two goals. A fantastic rush up the ice by rookie Max Shabanov gave Holmstrom an even better shot that just caught the right post. Mathew Barzal also worked his way up the ice, sending Schaefer a clear shot that went just wide. Barzal was sent off for hooking to end the period. New York’s penalty kill struggled last season, ranked 31st in the league. Horvat found a deflection off Ovechkin’s skate and fought to keep some offensive pressure while a man down. The kill was successful and the Islanders would look to bounce back in the second frame.
The Capitals easily took control of the first minute of the second period. An icing gave Barzal a shot on Logan Thompson, but the Islanders ultimately ended up back in their own zone. Able to exert some pressure, the Islanders found some nifty chances: a shot by J.G. Pageau that went wide, a shot by Shabanov that was saved, and a shot by Schaefer that had Thompson leaping to cover up. Working back up the ice, Marc Gatcomb’s shot was saved by Thompson, creating another offensive zone draw for the Islanders. Back in their own end, the Islanders’ defense held their own, not allowing a third goal for the visitors. UBS Arena lit up at a questionable call from the officials, sending Kyle Palmieri to the box for tripping Protas. The Islanders kept themselves tight at the beginning of the penalty kill, effectively protecting their goaltender. In a follow through of his shot, Ovechkin clipped Cizikas in the face.
After his shot was blocked by Holmstrom, Ryan Leonard received the puck from Jakob Chychrun and found the back of the net, putting the Capitals up three unanswered goals. After some back and forth, the Islanders found themselves in the Capitals’ zone on a few occasions, but only managed to get one shot on goal, prompting many calls from the crowd to shoot the puck.
Following some consistent zone time for the Capitals, the Islanders worked their way back to the attack, but a bad read from Tony DeAngelo sent Protas rushing towards Sorokin and giving the Capitals a four to zero lead—and his second of the night. With 1:17 remaining, Chychrun found himself in the box for elbowing Schaefer. In desperate need of some momentum, the Islanders looked for a shot off Horvat. However, a bumbling backhanded pass to Duclair had UBS on their feet for the Islanders’ first goal in their home sweaters for the season. To end the period, the Capitals attempted a tic-tac-toe play that was saved by a sprawling Sorokin.
The Islanders continued to struggle with puck possession to start the third. Once in the Capitals’ zone though, the Islanders managed a few shots towards Thompson and drew a slashing penalty on Roy. The Capitals quickly gained possession of the puck though, and skated their way down towards Sorokin. Finally on the offensive, Schaefer made a strong shot towards Thompson, that was quickly saved, but caused quite the scuffle in front of the net. Another strong shot from Palmieri was deflected up, but not out, and found Schaefer’s stick. The first overall pick was able to push the puck through and past a laid-out Thompson, earning his first career NHL goal. The net-front action prompted the Capitals to take a timeout to assess the goal and, eventually, a coach’s challenge for a hand pass that was unsuccessful.
The Islanders were unable to capitalize on the bench minor assessed to the Capitals, but were able to maintain pressure and control. Down two with just under twelve minutes to go, the New York team continued to crash the net and attempt to connect Matt and Mat (Schaefer and Barzal). The puck found itself going up and down the sheet of ice quite a few times, but favoring the Capitals. With just under seven minutes remaining, there was a small scrum in front of Thompson, but nothing came from it. After being hit in the leg again, Holmstrom found himself on the ice and the play was blown dead. Holmstrom was escorted to the locker room with 6:06 remaining in the game. After a Washington shot hit the post, Sorokin said “thank you” and skated his way to the bench with just under four minutes remaining: an aggressive, but not unusual move for Islanders’ head coach, Patrick Roy. The Islanders gave it a valiant effort, but were unable to get the puck past Thompson.
The New York Islanders will look to recoup and bounce back for their matinee game against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday, October 13 at 1 p.m.
