Alex Ovechkin welcomed himself to the postseason Friday night, but the Islanders took a 2-0 series lead everywhere.
Barry Trotz’s team faced a two-goal game from the dangerous Ovechkin, found a quick reaction to his second strike and imposed their will late to get away with a 5-2 victory at Scotiabank Arena.
Brock Nelson delivered the winner, stole a puck and scored on a break 15 seconds after Ovechkin tied it 2-2 in the second period. The Islanders buckled the rest of the way and added a few late goals to extend their lead from the first round, with Game 3 set for Sunday afternoon.
“To get the man right back to get a lead, we’ve all been there when it happens against us and it can kind of deflate, so that was big-time,” Nelson said.
Ovechkin had a chance to make it a hat trick in the middle of the third period on the power play, but with an open net to work with, he pushed the shot wide.
The islanders made the most of the missed opportunity, leaving some funny work on the horizon to torment the capitals in their own zone and make life miserable for them. The third line of Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Derick Brassard and Leo Komarov played a big part in it, sucking life out of the Capitals’ comeback, before Cal Clutterbuck scored an assured goal with 2:46 left and Anders Lee added a blank – netter for the final tally.
“We were just trying to stay on top and not give them room to come to us because of the talent they have,” Clutterbuck said. “We’re just trying to get the top of people and stay in the fight and stay aggressive.”
It was just the kind of style Trotz wanted to see from his team, playing to her identity.
“That’s how you win,” Trotz said. “Men are committed to that endeavor. I really enjoyed the third period. We did not come back, we just stayed at our game, and we got the result we wanted. ‘
Ovechkin was kept without a point by the Capitals’ first four postseason games, but the ticking time bomb eventually broke by 56 seconds in Game 2. It was part of a slow start for the Islanders, who recorded just one shot on the not through the first 10 minutes of the opening period.
However, they started building their game after that, tying it early in the second period to Nick Leddy’s power play streak – the first of four goals in a span of 3:58. The next came when Matt Martin crashed the crease and at once gave a perfect pass from Scott Mayfield to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 5:01.
Ovechkin came back with a second goal from a diversion, but Nelson had 15 seconds the quick response to put the Islanders ahead.
“I liked our reaction after they tied it up,” Trotz said. “It was one of those momentum changers.”
Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves in the win, including three big ones in the opening minute of the third period to keep the 3-2 lead intact. The Islanders delivered two big penalty kicks after that, with some help from Ovechkin widely missed, to secure their 2-0 series lead.
“As much as we can stay on them and play our boundary game kind of, get some time and possession of O-zone, kind of jam the neutral zone up, it’s going to be frustrating for everyone,” Nelson said. “Every game will not be perfect and you will not take everything away, so you want to try to take the majority of the game [away] then. “
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