These three games can quite possibly decide whether the Islanders finish in first or the rest of the pack in the East Division. The Capitals come to the Coliseum for games 1 and 2 of a 3 game set with game 3 being played in Washington. The Islanders have had success against the Capitals at the Nassau Coliseum so far this year with an 8-4 victory on April 1st and a 1-0 shutout victory on April 6th. Both games were completely different and the Islanders dominated both in different ways. On the other hand the Islanders have struggled and badly in our nation’s capital. The Islanders are 0-3 thus far in D.C. highlighted by a 6-3 loss back on the 28th of January where the Islanders had a 3-0 lead after 1 period of play. But in any case the Capitals lead the season series 3-2 thus far and these three games are defining moments for both sides. For the Islanders it is a chance to leave the Capitals behind and take sole control of first play and for the Capitals it is a chance to solidify their position and home ice advantage. The Caps are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games but a trade deadline acquisition in Anthony Mantha has been scoring with good regularity since he was moved to Washington. The Islanders are 7-3-0 in their last 10 and are coming off a thrilling 6-1 victory over their cross town rival New York Rangers. Anthony Beauvillier had a 4 point in his last game and really led the Islanders on offense. If the Islanders win 2 games this series they would be 2 points up on Washington with both clubs having 7 games remaining this shortened season. You can only hope if the Islanders lose a game this series they have enough in them to pull the game into overtime and nab a point. Ideally you want to win the firs 2 at home and have the final game of the season series as house money back in Washington. Overall the Islanders seemed to be on a poor streak of play but Tuesday’s win over the Rangers is just what they needed to jumpstart themselves again. The players to watch for this series are Mathew Barzal, Anthony Beuvillier, and Nick Leddy for New York. Barzal is looking to break out of a long streak of games without a goal, Beauvillier is coming off a 4 point night and seems to be getting on one of his hot streaks and the Islanders have been historically good during his hot streaks looking back at the playoffs last year were here torched the Capitals and the 17 game point streak where he contributed a huge part of the Islander’s offense, and Nick Leddy is coming off scoring the OT winner in the game before last over the Flyers. The players to watch for Washington are Anthony Mantha who has played well since joining the Caps, Alex Ovechkin who has scored a couple against the Isles this year and, Nickolas Backstrom who is having an extremely strong season thus far and he will try to build upon it in these 3 games. Overall these next three will surely play a part in who takes the 1st spot in the East and the Islanders will certainly need to bring a full effort each time they play the Capitals if they want to solidify themselves atop the East.
Game Schedule:
Thursday 4/22
7:00 PM Nassau Coliseum
Saturday 4/24
7:00 PM Nassau Coliseum
Tuesday 4/27
7:00 PM Capital One Arena