Islanders Edged By Capitals

Members of the Islanders Booster Club & Section 329 made the trip to Washington to cheer on their team and see Islander killer, Alexander Ovechkin & the Capitals host your New York Islanders.  Washington sits at the 3^rd spot in the metro, just 5 points behind the Islanders and 2 points behind the second place Rangers.  Arthur Staple told me that Mikhail Grabovski could be out several weeks after his placement on injured reserve with what has been called an “upper body injury.”  The injury occurred from a hit delivered by Eric Nystrom on Thursday’s game against the Predators. Kael Mouillierat is the leading scorer for Bridgeport with 8 goals & 40 pts in 51 AHL games has been recalled on an emergency basis.  He will make his NHL debut today wearing #48, centering a line with Martin & McDonald.  Calvin de Haan is in for Lubo Visnovsky.  Arthur Staple mentions Lubo is expected to return to the lineup for tomorrow’s game against Vancouver.

Forwards:  Lee-Tavares-Bailey, Grabner-Nielsen-Strome, Kulemin-Nelson-Clutterbuck, Martin-Mouillierat-McDonald.

Defensive Pairings:  Leddy-Boychuk, Strait-Hamonic, de Haan-Hickey.

Chad Johnson gets the start with Jaro Halak backing up.

After a slow start to the game and a few key saves by Chad Johnson, Travis Hamonic (Tavares & Bailey) puts the Islanders up 1-0 off a nice feed by Josh Bailey.  That is the 100^th NHL point for Hamonic.  Just another example of how well Islanders defensemen have contributed offensively this season.  That marks the sixth time that the Isles have scored first in consecutive games.  Shortly afterwards though, Travis Hamonic is crushed between Latta & Chimera behind the Islanders net and skates off slowly to the bench.  Hamonic returns for the next shift and appears to be OK.  The physical edge to this game has definitely been elevated by both teams.  Isles are caught on a bad change and will go to the PK.  Outstanding play by Johnny Boychuk to negate a high percentage shot against for the Caps.  Another strong PK for the Isles.  Hickey was hi-sticked by Kuznetsov, Isles to the PP as the Washington advantage expires.  New York unable to convert on the man advantage.  Niskanen ties the score at 1-1 with 40 seconds remaining in the first.  Another mistake late in the period resulting in another goal against.  Eric Hornick points out that the Islanders have been outscored 8-0 in the final minute of a period.  Shots are 6-4 Isles in the first.

Josh Bailey makes a great play to keep the puck in the offensive zone early in the second period.  Both Bailey & Lee have really risen to the occasion of playing on the first line.  Chad Johnson stops Ovechkin & bails out Thomas Hickey, who was trying to force a pass to Calvin de Haan.  The Capitals pressed hard and took control of the play in the second half of the period with a 10-7 edge in shots for the period and 14-13 mark after two. 

John Tavares goes sliding hard into the boards after a gutless “Dale Hunter-esk” check by Wilson. Tavares is slow to get up.  JT follows up being involved with a nice scoring chance on Holtby. Matt Martin tangles with Wilson shortly after to answer the liberty taken on Tavares.  The Islanders coming up with a strong effort in the final period with the score still tied at 1-1, but Caps have been resilient.  Fehr puts a shot behind Johnson after Isles were beaten 3 on 2 to take the lead with 5:34 remaining.  Isles take their time out with 1:27 remaining in regulation and Johnson stays on the bench.  John Tavares is unable to stuff it in with a stray puck floating in the pile up in front of the Caps goal.  Ryan Strome (Lee & Tavares) snipes it from a minimal angle with 47 seconds left in the period to tie it at 2-2 and force Over Time for the third time this season against the Capitals.  Shots were 18-7 Isles to end regulation with a 31-21 advantage for New York.  Isles were 0/1 on the PP and 1/1 on the PK.  Chad Johnson was 19 of 21 with a .905 Sv% after 3 periods of play.

In the O.T. period,   Chad Johnson made some big saves for the Isles, including a one on a partial break away on Ovechkin.  The Isles were outshot by a 6-1 margin in the extra period.

Kuznetsov scores on Johnson.

Frans Nielsen is stopped by Holtby.

Backstrom is stopped by CJ!

JohnTavares is stopped by Holtby.

Ovechkin is stopped by CJ!

Ryan Strome is stopped by Holtby and Washington wins it 3-2 in the S.O.

Credit Washington for a strong and very well-played game today.  The Islanders had a pretty good effort today as well.  They managed to salvage a point in a game they trailed in the final few minutes.  Their biggest boon was a pretty well played defensive effort.  In addition, they were able to stay out of the box for much of the game and closed out their opposition when they were man down.  John Tavares was awesome with key face-off wins and solid offensive contributions, including 2 assists in the game.  At 62 points on the season, he is just two points behind Backstrom for the league lead.  Josh Bailey had another strong game today.  His all-around play has been really strong this season, especially on the check as well as his hustle to start the Isles on the rush.  Anders Lee & Ryan Strome made an impact as well.  Both players had a point for the game and were instrumental in getting the Islanders back in the game to force overtime.  These are two young guys who continue to get better with each game and are becoming legitimate NHL threats for a good New York team.  Kael Mouillierat played well for the Islanders in his NHL debut.  A showing that included  some offensive chances, some nice defensive plays & the fact that he wasn’t shy about playing the kind of physical game that the Islanders have made their trademark this season.  It must also be noted that Travis Hamonic & Nick Leddy were solid two way players for the Islanders on defense. 

Credit Chad Johnson on another strong effort today. He is obviously working hard with goaltending coach, Mike Dunham to improve his game.  Johnson has stopped 91 of 96 shots with a .947Sv% over his last 3 games.  Quietly, it may have been the biggest bright spot that the Isles can take from the loss.

The Isles welcome a rested Vancouver squad to the Coliseum tomorrow night at 6pm for another big game against another quality team. 

Sound Tigers Notes:

Bridgeport Sound Tigers signed (F) Cam Reid to a PTO.