Goaltender Philipp Grubauer was recalled from the Caps AHL affiliate Hershey Bears this morning because Washington Capitals’ star goalie Braden Holtby came down with a flu-like illness just before Game Two of the Stanley Cup NHL playoffs versus the New York Islanders. Grubauer made his NHL Playoff debut in a big way.
Right from the get-go, and even with a rookie goaltender manning the net, the Capitals defense was very active early.
Washington blue liners were quick to pinch in contested plays in the New York zone. Just over five minutes into Game Two, Washington defenseman Mike Green pinched and couldn’t recover. This created a New York two-on-one for Islanders right winger Cal Clutterbuck who roofed his shot over Grubauer’s glove hand. The goal came just 5:14 into the game.
“We wanted to get into the play,” Green said about the Capitals’ early aggressive play. “We wanted to pinch them off and prevent them from gaining speed out of their zone which they are really good at.”
After the first 20 minutes, the Caps lead the Islanders in shot attempts 31-13. However, the Islanders led Washington in shots on goal 7-5. New York blocked 15 of the Caps’ 31 shot attempts. Of the shot attempts by the Capitals, 11 were sent wide.
At the 3:24 point into the second period, Islanders’ center John Tavares set up line mate and forward Ryan Strome for a one-timer from the slot, which got past Grubauer before he could even attempt to react. The Islanders led then 2-0.
With 8:34 left in the middle frame, Washington defenseman Karl Alzner got the home team on the board. Leading up to the goal, the Caps had sustained pressure in the Islanders end for an extended period of time before Green showed great patience to setup up Alzner for the goal to make it 2-1.
“We recognized that the top guy didn’t have a stick and we were able to move it around and get them moving and a little bit tired,” Green said about the play. “When the chance opened up I put it in Alzy’s wheelhouse. He really let that go.”
Two minutes and 43 seconds later, Islanders center Kyle Okposo took the life out of the Verizon Center crowd when he put New York up 3-1.
Exactly two minutes later, Washington right winger Alex Ovechkin got the Capitals back within one when he put in a rebound off a Matt Niskanen shot.
“We had a good second period. We kept battling,” Caps center Nicklas Backstrom said about the second period. “We got some pucks to the net and a rebound goal from Ovi. We had a good feeling. I don’t think we panicked at all.”
After two periods of play, the Caps led the Islanders in shots on goal 23-13. New York didn’t get a single shot on Grubauer for the rest of the second period after taking a 3-1 lead with 5:51 left. Through two, the Capitals totaled 63 shot attempts (21 blocked and 19 missed).
Washington got its first power play of the game 2:51 into the third period. Backstrom entered the Islanders’ zone after a clear and sent a shot past New York netminder Jaroslav Halak’s glove to tie the game at three. Just under five minutes later, Caps left winger Jason Chimera gave Washington its first lead of the series at 4-3.
Backstrom recorded three points (one goal, two assists) on the night which was his fourth career playoff game with three or more points.
“Backy was fantastic today in the faceoff circle, defensively and offensively,” Capitals Head Coach Barry Trotz said. “He’s the most complete player in the league and I get to see him day in and day out.”
During the Capitals’ double come back from two goals down, the Verizon Center really let loose.
“It was unbelievable,” Caps right winger Tom Wilson said about the Verizon Center atmosphere following the 4-3 win. “[There’s] really not a better feeling than celebrating in front of that crowd rocking.”
“It was loud out there today,” Trotz said after the game. “It was as loud as this building’s been all year. We feed off of that. You think you have an effect on the game… you do. You give us tons of energy as a fan base. Keep rocking it. We need you.”