WASHINGTON, DC – Brock Nelson opened the scoring for the New York Islanders in the first period of Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first round playoff series against the Washington Capitals. Nelson would end the game sealing the Islanders’ 4-1 victory with an empty net goal with 1:19 left in the game at the Verizon Center in Washington.
“Sometimes you feel a little bit of pressure as a young guy, obviously coming into a building like this and playing against some veterans that [the Capitals] have in their lineup. I liked their composure. Their motion was in check, and they came up big for us tonight. They skated. And you know, they played with confidence and poise. They’ve done that all year and right into Game 1,” said New York head coach Jack Capuano.
Nelson gave the Islanders the lead 6:06 into the first period when he took a pass from Josh Bailey in the neutral zone and streaked down the right wing, beating Braden Holtby with a wrister from the circle. Troy Brouwer had lost the puck to Johnny Boychuk with an errant pass to Marcus Johansson prior to Bailey’s assist.
“We know they are really good in the neutral zone, and we didn’t manage the puck very well. The first goal was a good example of that. If you turn the puck over against them, they are a really good in the transition team. They made us pay a few times,” said Washington defenseman Brooks Orpik.
Johansson tied the game for the Capitals 56.3 seconds before the first intermission when he beat Jaroslav Halak from the right circle. Halak had turned the puck over to Brooks Laich along the boards, directly resulting into an assist for Laich after he held off Nick Leddy and John Tavares.
Jaroslav Halak has strong game in net for Caps as they take 1-0 series lead – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Ryan Strome put the Islanders in the lead for good 3:50 into the second period after Tavares won the offensive zone faceoff against Michael Latta in the left circle clean. Tavares drew it back to Strome, who beat Holtby over his shoulder. The faceoff occurred after the Capitals iced the puck on a breakout.
“You just try and be ready for whoever you’re out against. When you’re competing for loose pucks, or winning races, or trying to get to the front of the net, you’re just trying to win your one-on-one battles and that’s it. That’s the key, I think. As a team and individually you take a lot of pride in that, so just trying to be ready for whoever you’re out there against,” said Tavares.
Josh Bailey extended the Islanders lead to 3-1 at 10:36 of the second period after some maneuvering behind the net by Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen ended with Bailey getting two whacks at the Capitals net despite Holtby’s best stretching efforts to keep the puck out.
“I think both of those guys [Okposo and Nielsen] did a great job down low. I was just kind of the slot man and just tried to crash the net at the end. Both of those guys did a great job controlling the puck and controlling the play, and I was just the beneficiary of that one,” said Bailey.
The Islanders’ 26th-ranked penalty kill held the Capitals’ top-rated power play off the board. The Capitals went 0-for-2.
Holtby made 23 saves on 26 shots while his Islanders counterpart Halak saved 24 out of 25 shots.
“It’s just one game here. We know we can play a lot better than that. It will be a long series. Try to keep investing physically as the game went on and we were down a couple of goals. We’ve got to turn the page quickly and try to find some things we can do a little better,” said Orpik.
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