What was largely a tight game and a story of lousy specialty teams for the New York Islanders turned into a 4-3 victory against a bitter Metropolitan division rival.
- New York Islanders 4 (14-14-6, 34 pts)
- Washington Capitals 3 (20-9-4, 44 pts)
- NHL, Final, Box Score
- Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Turning the Page
The New York Islanders are now riding a three-game winning streak off the coattails of a fantastic 4-3 win. Naturally, it isn’t without its faults but a win is a win and the Islanders now have three straight wins.
Cal Clutterbuck started the scoring for the Islanders after Nikolay Kulemin had a very big assist in charging the net hard and just missing on his backhand chance.
After Justin Williams tied the game for Washington in the first period, Andrew Ladd‘s first goal of the night put the Islanders up 2-1.
Despite Alexander Ovechkin tying the game 2-2 at the beginning of the third period, the Islanders did something they had not done frequently in 16-17.
Fight back.
3:24 later Ladd scored his second of the game and put the Islanders right back in front …
… followed by a goal from Anders Lee just 46 seconds later.
Fans would get a good scare with an Andre Burakovsky goal with 7:35 left in the third period. Fortunately, the Islanders hung in and came away by the skin of their teeth with a 4-3 win.
Right out of the gate the Islanders looked motivated once again which includes everyone on the ice. It was a great top-down effort for New York which started in net and flowed up to the forwards.
Jaroslav Halak was stellar in net and played like he wants to make a case to become the No. 1 goalie once more.
Ladd getting on the scoresheet for the Islanders is huge, as he typically gains momentum around this time as seen in his previous years in Winnipeg.
With their third win in a row, the Islanders are looking to build something.