Capitals put exclamation point on three-game sweep of Islanders

Caps put exclamation point on three-game sweep of Islanders originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

When the final buzzer sounded at Capital One Arena on Tuesday night, sending about 2,100 fans into a chorus of cheers, goaltender Vitek Vanecek lifted his arms and shook them with vigor as if he felt relief and jubilation all at once. 

Vanecek’s 1-0 shutout win over the Islanders gave the Capitals three straight wins over their division rivals and put them five points ahead with seven games left to play. It also capped the dominating three-game stretch for the Capitals against the Islanders. 

In 185 minutes of hockey (not including a shootout period), the Capitals didn’t allow a five-on-five goal against New York. Two different goaltenders (Ilya Samsonov as the other) tallied a shutout. Their defense was stout for nearly the entire stretch. And most importantly, they seem to be playing their best hockey at the right time of the season.

“It’s a good time of year to be hitting our stride,” forward Tom Wilson said. “I think guys are feeling comfortable with the system. I think we were feeling comfortable with the system earlier on, but there was still a little bit of hesitancy. Now I just feel like it’s a little smoother, guys are creating a habit around our systems and we’re playing a little bit better. We’ve changed a few things up and adjusting on the fly as you have do nowadays, and the games have looked pretty good as of late.”

The Capitals outscored the Islanders just 7-3 in the series (excluding the shootout winner), but their style of play was what was most impressive. Specifically, from in net. 

Since March 1, the Capitals have used Samsonov and Vanecek equally at 15 games each. They have save percentages of .922 and .913, respectively, and neither has allowed more than 2.55 goals per game. Against the Islanders, both showed that they’re more than capable of handling the No. 1 duties in net should coach Peter Laviolette come calling. 

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Of course, the defense Tuesday, and all throughout the stretch, was strong for Washington. It allowed just 14 five-on-five shots in the 1-0 win and just 18 all game.

“It wasn’t too many shots, but you try and stay focused all game and try and help the teammates to make a save,” Vanecek said. “They help me a lot, that’s why they didn’t shoot too many shots.”

The Capitals didn’t allow much of anything from the Islanders, partially due to the fact that they had the puck for the majority of the game. 

They had 66.67 percent of the shot attempts at five-on-five with a 32-14 advantage in shots. At one stretch during a dominant second period, the Capitals kept the Islanders hemmed in their own zone as the Islanders faced a long change. 

“Sometimes on that second period with the change, as you get to keep players out on the ice, even if it does get up to the neutral zone you can just quick up and go back at them,” Laviolette said. “They don’t get the change they’re looking for. We were able to get pucks behind them and stay in the offensive zone so that first led to zone time and then I thought we really got moving from an identity standpoint in the offensive zone.”

The win put the Capitals back into first place over the Penguins with a two-game set against them upcoming. If one team takes two of the games, that could very well decide the East Division. 

But the Capitals gave themselves a bit of breathing room over the last three games with three convincing wins over the Islanders, each where they relied on their offense, goaltending and defense. Now, they hope they’re hitting their stride with just seven games left to play. 

“We needed to play better, and we wanted to use those games to look at our game and see how we’re doing it this time of year,” Wilson said. “We talked about that going in. Now we’re looking forward to even bigger games down the stretch here. It’s so tight. You don’t lose a game and you’re out of first as of yesterday and then back in, and it’s crazy. Every point matters right now.”