The most important game to date for both the Islanders and Capitals. The Islanders finally played the back end of a back to back like you’re supposed to… tired. Washington finally break the Isles’ D, and Greiss in the third. A PP goal, a fluke fowl (Emblem joke) tip, and an own goal empty netter by Bailey.
The IslesBlogger.com game reviews are being done in restaurant review form based on this post about Lou’s Burger Barn. I hope you enjoy the format. If you have any suggestions or critiques please do so in the comments section. Thanks.
The Staff (Lineup Changes)
| LW | C | RW | |
| L1 | 27Lee | 29Nelson | 07Eberle |
| L2 | 18Beauvillier | 13Barzal | 12Bailey |
| L3 | 32Johnston | 53Cizikas | 15Clutterbuck |
| L4 | 14Kuhnhackl | 51Filppula | 47Komarov |
| FR | 16Ladd | 17Martin | |
| LD | RD | ||
| D1 | 03Pelech | 06Pulock | |
| D2 | 02Leddy | 55Boychuk | |
| D3 | 25Toews | 24Mayfield | |
| DR | 04Hickey | 21Sbisa | ##Seidenberg |
| GOAL | |||
| 01Greiss | |||
| 40Lehner |
Kuhnhackl in for Ladd
Johnston in for Martin
Greiss starts back end of B2B
Lou’s Burger of the Game (Hero)
Thomas Greiss played a solid game. There was no real hero here. This team looked exhausted all night. With the exception of a few bursts they played the whole game in their defensive zone. When you do that you’re goaltender hast to keep you in the game. He did.
Into the Chili (Goat)
Josh Bailey. As much as I would have liked this to have been Nick Leddy for officially becoming the Islanders SIXTH defenseman, I couldn’t do it. Bailey scored an own goal empty netter. You gotta get the goat when you do that. You just have to.
Salad Bar (Random Thoughts About the Game)
No legs. We’ve seen it a few times. The Islanders just had no legs tonight. They played way too much of the game in their own zone.
The goaltending matchup was Thomas Greiss vs the pipes. Three posts hit by the Islanders. Greiss played well. He let up two but it could have very well been 5-1 even before the third started.
The Killer B’s (Beau-Barzal-Bailey) look like they’re gonna be around to generate offense. This could be the first line, or it could be the fourth line. It all depends on how other teams match up. If they clog up the neutral zone, like Washington is going to do, then they are not net effective. Too many neutral zone turnovers because of too many bad neutral zone decisions.
I had to watch the Washington feed because CAPS games are blacked out in my area on NHL.TV. Have to take two aspirin per period to listen to Laughlin. He spent a whole hour talking about how the Kuhnhackl goal was offsides… thank Bossy they scored their fluke goal (Ovechkin’s Foul Tip) so he could stop whining.
I get the feeling that Barry Trotz knows Tom Wilson is afraid of Ross Johnston. He gave Matt Martin the night off after a very physical game against the Leafs. Tom Wilson responded by being a pussy cat all night. Make a note of that if the two teams should meet in the playoffs.
The war of attrition. These games have gone back to being neutral zone battles. The Caps clearly won the majority of those battles tonight. I’m not sure if they will should both teams battle rested. Ladd and Martin will make a difference in that regard.
Ii think this game was evidence that the road to the cup will be going through Long Island. Even on a hangover night, the Isles kept Washington off the board for 40+ minutes.
The Bubbly (Playoff Status)
| TEAM | W | L | OT | P | PPG | PRJ | GR | LCD | PO |
| ATL | A0 | ||||||||
| TBL | 49 | 12 | 4 | 102 | 1.569 | 129 | 17 | 20 | A1 |
| BOS | 38 | 17 | 9 | 85 | 1.328 | 109 | 18 | 12 | A2 |
| TOR | 39 | 21 | 4 | 82 | 1.281 | 105 | 18 | 11 | A3 |
| MET | M0 | ||||||||
| NYI | 37 | 20 | 7 | 81 | 1.266 | 104 | 18 | 10 | M1 |
| WAS | 37 | 21 | 7 | 81 | 1.246 | 102 | 17 | 9 | M2 |
| CBJ | 36 | 24 | 3 | 75 | 1.190 | 98 | 19 | 8 | M3 |
| WC | W0 | ||||||||
| MON | 35 | 23 | 7 | 77 | 1.185 | 97 | 17 | 7 | W1 |
| PIT | 33 | 22 | 8 | 74 | 1.175 | 96 | 19 | 8 | W2 |
| OUT | XX | ||||||||
| CAR | 34 | 23 | 6 | 74 | 1.175 | 96 | 19 | 8 | |
| PHI | 31 | 26 | 8 | 70 | 1.077 | 88 | 17 | 4 | |
| FLA | 28 | 25 | 10 | 66 | 1.048 | 86 | 19 | 4 | |
| BUF | 29 | 26 | 8 | 66 | 1.048 | 86 | 19 | 4 | |
| NYR | 27 | 27 | 10 | 64 | 1.000 | 82 | 18 | 2 | |
| NJD | 25 | 32 | 8 | 58 | 0.892 | 73 | 17 | -2 | |
| DET | 23 | 32 | 9 | 55 | 0.859 | 70 | 18 | -3 | |
| OTT | 22 | 37 | 5 | 49 | 0.766 | 63 | 18 | -6 |
The Caps move into a tie with the Isles for first, but the Isles have a game in hand.
Montreal beat the Rangers tonight to jump ahead of PIT and CAR for the first wild card position. They would be the Islanders’ first round opponent if the playoffs started today. That will probably change every time I do a game review.
Dessert (What’s Coming Up)
PHI (03/03/19) The Flyers are hanging on to their playoffs hopes by a thread. They can only lose four games with 18 remaining to make the bubble. They know where they are, that’s why Simmonds is in Nashville.
OTT (03/05/19) Since my last review OTT fired their coach Guy Boucher and replaced him with fiery Marc Crawford. Seems a little odd to name an interim coach at this point. I think we can all assume that Ottawa is just getting a jump on the next five years.
@OTT (03/07/19) Home in home with the wounded dog.
@PHI (03/09/19) Philadelphia could be completely out of the race by the time we get an eyeful of Gritty, or they could be back in it. A lot will depend on the Islanders and the Capitals not playing down to their level. But they have been awfully hot lately.
