Islanders vs. Capitals Stanley Cup Playoffs Game Three Stats Recap

In Game 3, the New York Islanders were coming off of what was arguably their worst performance of the season in game two of the conference quarterfinals. They were looking to re-establish themselves while the Washington Capitals were looking to retain that momentum.

The Islanders responded with a much better game (though it didn't show up in goals column) en route to a 2-1 victory.

The Box Score

Everybody had a better game for the Islanders though the third line still had its issues.  Seemingly everybody was talking about how quiet John Tavares was up until this point and how he only had two assists.  He wound up as the team's best possession player and scored the game winning goal in overtime.  The second line saw a noticeable improvement this game as well as Kyle Okposo scored and they weren't massively outshot.

Braden Holtby was the talk of the game and there were talks of how he was going to steal this game, but Jaroslav Halak put up better save percentages in all situations and five on five.  He couldn't quite get the shutout, but was still very good.

Many people were talking about how great the penalty kill was, but it was really mediocre at best.  The worst penalty kill in the league allowed a little over a scoring chance against per minute and the Islanders were a bit worse than that.  The power play actually did a bit better, but just couldn't convert.

This was a great improvement from game two.  Hopefully they can establish some consistency this time around and this doesn't turn into one of those weird series that where the team only performs well in odd numbered matches.  If they can take this next one in Uniondale then they'll be in great shape to advance.