John Tavares and the New York Islanders swept the week away by hammering the Washington Capitals 3-0 on Thursday night.
- New York Islanders 3 (9-10-4, 22 pts)
- Washington Capitals 0 (13-7-2, 28 pts)
- NHL, Final, Box Score
- Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
It wasn’t the cleanest win, the Islanders took a ton of penalties in the process and found themselves holding off a furious Washington offense, but found a way to put away the win and Jaroslav Halak‘s first shutout of the season.
Your New, New York Islanders
Look back at Monday night’s win against the Calgary Flames. Now go watch the highlights from the Pittsburgh game and the Washington game.
Do you see the difference?
One crucial element that the Islanders found in their game against the Penguins was the importance of skating hard and maintaining a fast pace. The Islanders have been fast, gritty and relentless in their sudden offensive outburst. After not scoring more than three goals and not winning a regulation game since the Vancouver matchup way back on November 7. They have now won the past three games straight and they have won two of those three in regulation, two of those wins coming to Metropolitan division foes.
What. A. Turnaround.
Isles vs. Caps
The game was a stalemate for the first two periods after the Islanders nearly gave up a goal to Justin Williams but the puck was just too late to make it for a good goal.
The Islanders continued to exchange opportunities throughout the first and second periods, but the Islanders continued to surrender very careless and, quite frankly, stupid penalties to the Caps.
But the penalty kill is resurgent throughout the past couple of games, going over 91% in their past eight plus attempts.
#Isles PK this season:
First 6 games: 95.4%
Next 8 games: 61.5%
Last 8 games: 91.7%
I offer no reason nor explanation, just numbers.— Brendan Burke (@brendanmburke) December 1, 2016
The third period is where the Islanders finally caught a break. After a great offensive flurry by the Capitals, Shane Prince scored on a gorgeous breakaway to diminish the spirits of the Verizon Center. Three minutes later, after a mad scramble in front, Brock Nelson managed to put the puck past two defenders and Braden Holtby for a quick 2-0 lead. Jason Chimera padded the Islanders lead to three after a slick backhand that beat Holtby.
Looking to Sunday
Aside from the reckless penalties, it was a very solid win for the Islanders and easily their best two games of the season. The Islanders decreased their deficit to five points away from the nearest playoff seed. Coming into this week, the deficit was nine.
The Islanders are on their way back to relevancy. They need to keep up the speed, skating, and possession if they want to keep moving up in the standings. The Detroit Red Wings are up next and the Islanders know that to keep climbing out of the hole they dug themselves, they need to keep this momentum moving.
.@ShanePrince18's goal put the #Isles on the board and got things going in the third! pic.twitter.com/lpii9wBBI3
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) December 2, 2016
Jaro tonight. ???? #Isles #NYIvsWSH pic.twitter.com/8JvWAOmcv3
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) December 2, 2016
Our three stars of the game! #Isles #NYIvsWSH pic.twitter.com/kHBi81gwLq
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) December 2, 2016