Capitals fall to Islanders, 5-2, and trail 2-0 in series

We know how that turned out. Whether these Capitals have a four-game run — and 12 more wins — in them seems debatable based on the early evidence at Scotiabank Arena.

Two years after their epic run to hoisting the Stanley Cup, this Capitals team — with many familiar faces from the 2018 champions — seems worlds from that squad. Those two first-round losses against the Blue Jackets were intense, overtime defeats. These two losses against the Islanders included a third-period collapse in Game 1 and a lifeless final 20 minutes in Game 2 that saw the Capitals struggle on special teams and repeatedly get bottled up in their own zone with the game still in doubt.

“It’s a good thing we have plenty of games, lots of games, left and we’ve been in this situation,” Alex Ovechkin said moments after Friday’s loss. “We know how to fight, we know how to play, and we’re going to do our best. I believe in this group, and we all believe in each other. It’s not panicking. It’s just 2-0. We know our strength. We know what we have to do to get to bounce back. We’re going to take it game by game.”

But after Wednesday’s game saw the Islanders rattle off four straight goals after the Capitals held a 2-0 lead in the second period, Friday followed a similar pattern: strong start, self-inflicted miscues and no sense of urgency. Entering the third period down 3-2, the Capitals allowed the Islanders to get the insurance goal with 2:46 remaining from Cal Clutterbuck. Anders Lee, whose late hit on Nicklas Backstrom caused the Capitals center to miss Game 2 while in the NHL’s concussion protocol, tallied an empty-netter with 1:39 left to seal it. Coach Todd Reirden said the team is “hopeful” Backstrom can play Sunday for Game 3 but said he could not comment any further on the matter.

In one of the only bright spots for the Capitals, Ovechkin seemed to find his stride, opening the Game 2 scoring less than a minute into the game. But the Capitals, who welcomed back Lars Eller after he missed three games to be with his wife for the birth of their child, couldn’t maintain the early energy.

“We need more players like [Ovechkin] that are playing at the top of their level,” Reirden said.

Ovechkin’s goal — his first of two on the night — briefly looked to be the spark the Capitals would need to carry them for the remaining 59 minutes. After flipping the puck past goaltender Semyon Varlamov, the Russian let out a triumphant yell that could be heard all the way up in the 300 level as Tom Wilson raised his hands and joined in the celebration.

With the tally, Ovechkin recorded his first point of the 2020 postseason. He and winger T.J. Oshie are the only Capitals players who have scored in the two games against the Islanders.

But quickly after Ovechkin’s strong start, the Islanders started to slowly regain the momentum they established in the third period of Game 1. They started to get more pucks on net, outshooting the Capitals, and quickly the script was flipped.

“I think it’s pretty normal when one team starts a little better and the second team just gets a wake-up call a little bit,” center Evgeny Kuznetsov said. “So it’s just a normal thing. We just have to focus more on our game and have to execute better second and third pass.”

To start what became an intense, back-and-forth second period, the Islanders tallied the frame’s first two goals. The first was a power-play goal from Nick Leddy at 2:56 after Nic Dowd took a penalty for high-sticking. Leddy’s tally was a left point shot that went off the bottom of Braden Holtby’s glove and the right post, then in. The power-play goal was the first Washington has allowed all postseason.

Holtby, who struggled in the late stages of Game 1, finished with 27 saves on 31 shots.

Barely two minutes later, the Capitals found themselves trailing when Matt Martin tipped the puck past Holtby.

Ovechkin needed about 90 seconds to knot it at 2. The tie lasted all of 15 seconds when Brock Nelson beat Holtby on a breakaway, a tally that would stand as the winner.

The breakaway came on a turnover from Jakub Vrana, who has zero points this postseason. Reirden didn’t waste any time benching Vrana. He was back on the ice for the third and was aggressive on his opening shift but failed to have any lasting offensive impact. Reirden said after the game that he would be “looking at all things” regarding potential lineup changes for Game 3.

“We obviously didn’t have everyone’s best effort,” Reirden said. “So if that happens after two games, then you have to look to make some adjustments and give some other people an opportunity. So we’ll go through that later this evening and first thing tomorrow and feel like we put the best players on the ice for the 12 o’clock game the following day where we give ourselves the best chance to have success and get ourselves back in this series.”

Vrana’s miscue was one of many that occurred throughout the night. The Capitals had two too-many-men-on-the-ice calls in the game — once at 5:13 of the first period that negated matching minors and gave the Islanders power-play time, then another with 6:18 left in the second period and Washington trailing.

“The disappointing part is that we get off to a good start and then self-inflicted again plays,” Reirden said. “It’s mentally as it is physically. I mean, too many men on the ice, it’s clear that the players know who they’re going for and it’s poor changes.”

The Capitals also only had 13 shots on goal through two periods — with Ovechkin credited for six of them — as the team was getting outshot 24-13 through 40 minutes.

The Capitals produced 12 shots in the third period, but none got past Varlamov, who finished with 23 saves on 25 shots. When the final horn sounded, the Capitals’ heads were down as they left the ice. An uphill climb — or an early exit — comes next.

“It’s the focus,” Reirden said. “It’s [being] mentally and physically sharp for 60 minutes. If you’re not going to do that against a team like this, you’re going to have a difficult time having success. … We’re down 2-0, but certainly no one can say that we have put our best foot forward, best effort mentally and physically. [If we don’t], we don’t have a chance against this team. I want to see our best overall game and see where that takes us.”