Monday night saw Tom Wilson strike twice in a 4-1 win for the Washington Capitals over the Islanders, in New York.
“It’s one of those games we had to grind out,” Wilson said. “We had some big plays, some big shots at important times, but they played well. They had a lot of traffic in front. They were doing stuff that Barry preaches.
“They’ve lost pieces over the years, but they’re as hard, if not harder to play against than they have been in the past. It was a good challenge for us.”
Nic Dowd also scored for the Caps.
“I’ve seen those young men on the other side grow. They hang in there, hang in there and then you get your chance, you sort of take advantage of it, and they did. … That’s what champions do. They find ways to get it done,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said after the loss.
Braden Holtby made 32 saves to get the win.
Valtteri Filppula scored the lone Isles goal; the Islanders were scoreless in four power play chances.
“We had our chances, we had our power plays,” Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “A couple of them were good, a couple of them were awful.
“If you look at our power play tonight versus the past few nights, it’s much better. We’re getting looks. A couple of them, we obviously had trouble getting in the zone, but that’s going to happen. It obviously looks brutal and it’s frustrating to watch, but we had some good chances tonight for sure.”
Alex Ovechkin scored an empty-netter late to seal it.
[WATCH: All Capitals vs. Islanders highlights]
Thomas Greiss made 20 saves in taking the loss.
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