Capitals 6, Islanders 3: Losing feels right

Hey folks, just checking in. There was another Islanders game against the Capitals tonight. Hope you didn’t catch it. I only saw the third, but listened to the first two on the radio in traffic. Traffic was a bit more entertaining.

[Game Sum | Event Sum | Corsica | Natural Stat Trick | HockeyViz]

First Period

The news of the frame was that Alexander Ovechkin was originally judged to have scored his 601st goal of his career, before it was awarded to T.J. Oshie, who continued to give his slump the Islander treatment.

Second Period

Mathew Barzal, bless the boy, doesn’t want to lose, despite it helping the team. He scored his 19th of the season, leaving him one shy of breaking twenty as a rookie. What a season for him; he would add an assist in the third to put him at 72 points on the year.

Not one minute later, Ross Johnston finally got his piece of sewer-breath Tom Wilson, earning himself a game misconduct he truly should be proud of. The hockey world by and large lauds his efforts.

Niklas Backstrom put the Caps back on top shortly thereafter. Most of the action of the period occurred in a two-minute span; Matt Niskanen, though, tallied toward the end of the period for good measure.

Third Period

Alex Chiasson and Jakub Vrana put the Capitals up 5-1, but the Islanders brought themselves within two in the last couple minutes of the period, with Brock Nelson and John Tavares popping power play goals for Ryan Pulock to assist on.

But, Lars Eller unceremoniously ended it with a long clear that hit the empty net. 6-3 final.

Thoughts/Up Next

The tank is steaming along, like a heavy, rolling log of turd. Its next stop: a Sunday dinnertime game against the Hurricanes at Barclays Center. I will see you all again then; Happy St. Patrick’s Day, ya drunks.