Washington Capitals rally to edge New York Islanders in shootout 5-4 -NHL
New York did a great job of keeping Washington at bay heading into the third and final period of regulation but Capitals rallied in the last to force the overtime extension, taking the match from Islanders, 5-4, in a shootout decider on Tuesday night, March
13, 2012, at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale.
Islanders dominated during the first 40 minutes but could not keep the momentum going in the final 20, completely giving up and allowing Washington to comeback for a disappointing loss.
Washington secured their eighth spot in the Eastern Conference, now with 78 points, four above ninth place Buffalo Sabres and could be overtaking third place and South East Division rivals, Florida Panthers, now down by only one.
"We really controlled the game, the first 40 minutes, and took it to them," New York rookie, John Tavares, said. "We let them back in it."
Matt Moulson kicked off the scoring with his 30th of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season at the 8:54 mark of the first while Travis Hamonic extended the lead at 19:39 on the power play for his second.
Capitals had two straight penalties in the opening period but Islanders failed to capitalise on the easy opportunities.
John Tavares took the match to 3-0 midway through the second on the added man advantage. Mike Knuble responded to kill any New York momentum 28 seconds later but Tavares added his second of the night at 11:44.
Alex Ovechkin gave hope to Washington with another last minute goal at 19:07 followed by Dmitry Orlov 1:51 into round-three and the captain once again at 10:15 to level the match and surprisingly force the overtime extension.
"It's the playoffs for us right now," Ovechkin said. "Teams are fighting for those spots, and we need these points."
After a scoreless overtime, John Tavares gave New York hope of a win in the shootout with the first goal of the competition on their second attempt. Ovechkin responded to equalise it while Matt Hendricks faked Evgeni Nabokov on the decider with a back-hander
to take the match.
Islanders have lost four in a row now and will be facing Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
Washington will have the chance to further disappoint a Winnipeg fan base when they face the Jets in Canada on Friday and potentially move up in the top ranks.
Tags: