The Washington Capitals open the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at home against the New York Islanders on Wednesday night. The matchup was not determined until the final week of the season, and the home ice advantage was settled on the final day, with the Islanders unable to capitalize on Washington’s loss against their soon to be neighbors, the Rangers. The series should prove to be entertaining and evenly matched, as the two teams finished the regular season with 101 points apiece, with the Capitals gaining the home ice advantage in the series due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. Washington should feel confident in facing the Isles, but should also be wary of the young upstarts for a number of reasons.
Alex Ovechkin – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Washington’s second-place finish in the Metropolitan Division seemed a pipe-dream a month and a half ago. While the Rangers did make an incredible run to win the division, the Capitals somehow outlasted both the Islanders and the Pittsburgh Penguins to leapfrog both teams in the standings. While it may be argued that this finish resulted more from a swoon by the Pens and Isles than a push from the Caps, there is no doubt that Washington finished the season on a more positive note than their division rivals. While there is no correlation between how a team finishes the regular season and how they perform come playoff time, the finish is certainly a positive for the Capitals in the confidence department.
The Capitals will lean on five-time Rocket Richard award winner Alex Ovechkin. The captain, who finished the regular season with 53 goals, is the driving force behind Washington’s offense. He also leads the team in While he will certainly be the focus of the Islanders defensive look, he has scored 61 points in 58 career playoff games. His playoff experience, and record of stepping up in big games, was noted by his coach earlier this year.
“He’s a rock star,” Barry Trotz raved after the Winter Classic. “I think that the great players of their generation, and Alex is one, when the stage is very big, you know what you’re going to get and you’re going to get a good performance, a great performance.”
Isles’ John Tavares will need to counter Caps offense – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
The Capitals roster, as a whole, boasts more playoff experience than their New York counterparts. The same could not be said for most of their other potential first round opponents, making this an ideal matchup in this regard. While they do hold the experience edge on the young Islanders, the Capitals should be aware of some shared experience between themselves and a certain member of the Islanders roster. Goaltender Jaroslav Halak, briefly a Capital last season, certainly has a history against this team. In the Capitals Presidents Trophy winning campaign of 2010, their first round matchup was against the Montreal Canadiens. With Carey Price battling injury, Halak led the Habs to a surprising upset, holding the high-scoring Capitals to a single goal in each of the last three games of the seven game series. Another run of standing on his head, and the echoes of that series may start ringing loudly in the heads of the Capitals.
Washington will certainly hear plenty of noise on the road in this series. With the Isles moving to Brooklyn next season, the Nassau Coliseum will be filled with fans who want to savor every last moment with their team. The fans will be in full throat, making the old barn on Long Island a tough place to play. It will certainly be a tough place to close out a series against a very good, deep Islanders team. This series will be tough and physical, features star power on both sides, and will probably go down to the wire. My prediction: Capitals in seven.
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