The Washington Capitals played the Game Three against the New York Islanders on Sunday with despair, which is not necessarily the same thing as playing well.
Anders Lee got the Islanders first on the board with some tenacity, but the Caps responded in the second period when Kuznetsov released a snout from Backstrom’s power play spot. Braden Holtby turned out the lights to keep the caps alive in overtime, but Matt Barzal won it in overtime.
Losing caps. Islands led the series 3-0.
- Sunday marked the NHL’s debut of Brian Pinho. Travis replaced Boyd, he was in order. But this was not the effective line-shake-up we were promised. More on that in a moment.
- It was a very bad first period. As little as any period, the Caps have played this postseason. During 5v5 play, the Islands generated 93 percent of the expected goals after the Caps’ 7. The Caps started three penalty kicks, and honestly they played better during the PK than they did at equal strength. One call in particular:
Evgeny Kuznetsov: 5:18 5v5 TOI, 0 / -8 CF, 0 / -7 shots, 0 / -1 goals, 0 / -6 SCF, 0 / -5 HDCF
– Chris Cerullo (@ CJC_95) August 16, 2020
Kuzy’s stick blade looks like it has a groove or black tape for more feel. Interesting. pic.twitter.com/Lv7ARQ08rl
– Ian Oland (@ianoland) August 16, 2020
- However, the topline as it is currently constructed (Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson) is not much of a threat during 5v5 play. They agreed quite aggressively, but he called fun Pelech / Pulock D-pair and trained all four lines in how much they dared to play. I would rather see Ovi with Eller and Kuznetsov with Oshie.
- The Caps PK remains good. But also busy. I prefer that they are just okay and rarely used.
- Braden Holtby, which you probably want to bank, put a .968 on during regulation by stopping 30 of 31 shots. The team needed a performance like this, and Holtby delivered. The team surprised it.
- After all, I want that Jakub Vrana scored on his chance in overtime.
#JoeBSuitOfTheNight #CapsIsles A glossy white suit for Game Three! pic.twitter.com/ThZqXfb9g7
– Ian Oland (@ianoland) August 16, 2020
I do not get it. The Caps had every reason to enter Sunday’s game with conviction. And, sure, they finally started to look okay, but their failure to put together a solid hour of competent play is the reason why they are now in a 3-0 hole that they probably can not escape, and that is also the reason why this version of the team can not allow the next season to survive.
Puppy. See you Tuesday.
Full RMNB coverage of WSH / NYI Game Three
