Caps fall in shootout to Isles following grueling defensive battle originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
WASHINGTON — After 65 minutes of grueling hockey in which the two sides played almost the entire game at even strength, the Capitals lost to the New York Islanders 2-1 in a shootout Wednesday night.
A low-event defensive battle from puck drop, the game got off to a slow start with both teams taking conservative approaches to the forecheck. Without a single power play for either team in regulation, the teams had to rely on their five-on-five game to generate offense.
Neither the Capitals nor the Islanders generated much momentum through the neutral zone, resulting in a first period that saw them combine for just 10 shots on goal.
New York finally got on the board on a tally by left wing Pierre Engvall, who beat Darcy Kuemper through the five-hole with a shot off the rush early in the second. The Capitals responded two and a half minutes later when Conor Sheary scored on a backhander from the low slot to extend his active point streak to four games.
It took until the 14-minute mark of the final period before the first penalty of the game was called. Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield was whistled for boarding Sheary, but the Capitals’ power play was wiped out when Nicolas Aube-Kubel picked up a roughing penalty for going after Mayfield.
The game went to overtime, where the pace quickened and each side traded chances. Kuemper and Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin filled out a highlight reel’s worth of saves over those five minutes. Tom Wilson was called for tripping with 28.8 left to go, giving the Islanders the lone power-play chance of the evening.
While they didn’t convert, the Islanders went two-for-two in the shootout to clinch the victory. With the loss, the Capitals dropped to 34-32-9 but gained a point to raise their total to 77 on the season. They’ll look to bounce back in the second leg of their back-to-back Thursday when they travel to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning.
