There just seems to be no way for the Washington Capitals to keep the New York Islanders down.
That was the case on Friday night in Game 2 after the Islanders rebounded from an early deficit and beat the Caps 5-2. Brock Nelson scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and the Islanders padded the lead with two more in the third. Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves in the win.
Below are three takeaways from the Islanders Game 2 win:
Islanders Win Special Teams Battle
Talk about a turnaround from the first game, the Islanders were the better team on special teams. First, we have to start with the fact the Islanders played a clean game and allowed the Capitals to two chances on the man advantage. No one expected the Islanders to give up another seven power plays, but Friday’s effort returned them to the discipline they showed in Game 1 and Game 2 of the Qualifying Round where they allowed Florida Just three man-advantage chances combined.
The Islanders limited the Caps dangerous power play to just three scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick, and only one of those was a high danger chance.
“I think our PK did a great job tonight limiting chances as much as possible,” Matt Martin said. “They got one of the best power plays in the league, so they’re still going to get some looks. I think Ovi missed one backside in the third, but for the most part, guys are sacrificing the body. Getting pucks out when they had opportunities.”
On the flip side, the Islanders cashed in when it needed to on Friday. Nick Leddy’s second-period power-play goal came as the Islanders trailed the Capitals early in the second period. In fact, during the postseason this year, whether or not the Islanders scored on the power play seems to be a good indication if they will win the game.
Of their five playoff wins this season, the Islanders have scored a power-play goal in four of them.
Islanders Playing Their Game
When the Islanders play their style of hockey that is when they’re most successful. They did that on Friday night. Things could quickly gon awry after Alexander Ovechkin scored 56 seconds into the game, but the ever even-keeled Islanders didn’t let that happen. They held strong and the ground down the Capitals in the final 20 minutes.
Friday marks the sixth straight playoff game this year that the Islanders limited an opponent to fewer than 30 shots in the postseason. The most shots they’ve allowed in this year’s playoffs was 28.
“We’re just trying to play the way we know how to play,” Cal Clutterbuck said. “That’s the strength of our team. Just getting back to that game that’s successful for us. They’ve got a lot of different ways that they can play and that’s a great team. We’re trying to focus on ourselves here and do what we can controlling what we can control. We’re just trying to do what we do.”
"i thought we responded well. once we started getting pucks in behind them and playing to our identity, we started getting looks, we started getting chances and we were able to capitalize."
🎥 clutterbuck and martin check-in after tonight’s w pic.twitter.com/jwdkkl4HhI
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) August 15, 2020
The fact that the New York Islanders have been able to establish their game early in the series has been a huge benefit. The Capitals are a high powered offense, as were the Florida Panthers, and Playing Islanders style hockey has proven to be successful against those types of opponents.
In Wednesday’s Game 1, the Islanders limited the Capitals to just T.J. Oshie as their only scorer. Friday, it was only Ovechkin who was able to beat Varlamov.
The success has been a morale boost for the Islanders.
“Confidence is high as a group,” Martin said. “I just like our composure. We haven’t gotten too high or too low in this series thus far. We’re going to continue to do that. Each game is going to get tougher and tougher. … They’re not going to fold the tent. We just need to continue to push through and we’re still going to face adversity through this series.”
Varlamov Continues to be Isles Hot Hand
Semyon Varlamov had another strong outing in Game 2 and moved his playoff record to 5-1 this season. Varlamov finished Friday night with 23 saves and a .920 save percentage.
The New York Islanders netminder did allow two even-strength goals, but he otherwise gave the Islanders a good 60-minute effort.
“He’s been efficient. He’s been focused,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said of his goaltender. “You get the timely saves. I thought he had a couple of them. A couple of big moments. When (Carl) Hagelin had the breakaway you need that save at that moment. He was able to make that save.”
