By STEPHEN WHYNO
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
(AP) — Lars Eller looked determined not to let the Washington Capitals
lose another game at home, so he took things into his own hands.
Eller
scored two goals, including the winner late in the third period, and
added an assist to help the Capitals beat the New York Islanders 4-3 on
Thursday night. Though Washington was largely outplayed and outshot, the
Danish center was arguably the best player on the ice, drawing two
penalties and committing one as part of an eventful outing.
“Sometimes
you have some games where most things are just going right for you,”
Eller said after the Capitals improved to 2-3 at home. “And I think
tonight was one of those games for our line and I think we even could’ve
had a couple more.”
The Islanders could’ve had more goals, too,
were it not for Vezina Trophy finalist Braden Holtby, who made 15 of his
35 saves in the third period. New York outshot Washington 38-19 and
then 16-2 in the third period.
Holtby said the Capitals should
feel “lucky” to win a game they would lose more often than not if
repeated. The Islanders felt as if they deserved better.
“Should’ve
had it,” coach Doug Weight said. “It would be nice to have it. It felt
like we earned it. We battled. We gave up two shots in the third. It’s
disappointing.”
Islanders captain John Tavares scored his 12th
goal of the season, one behind Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov for the NHL
lead, and Anders Lee had two goals. New York’s power play went 2 for 4
and has scored on seven of its past 14 opportunities after starting the
season 2 for 33.
“You go through swings like this throughout the
course of the year,” Islanders winger Josh Bailey said. “Early on,
things weren’t going that well and we were able to tweak some things.
And when you get hot you just want to ride it as long as you can.”
Eller
was hot Thursday night from his first shift. He raced down the ice on a
backcheck and sent the puck up ice to set up Taylor Chorney’s goal,
just the fourth time the Capitals scored first in 13 games.
Starting strong was a point of emphasis in recent days, and Chorney’s first goal since Jan. 1 set a more positive tone.
“I
feel like we’ve been chasing the game lately,” said Alex Chiasson, who
scored his first goal with the Capitals to make it 3-2 in the second.
“It’s nice to get on the board early. I think it allows the coach to
roll four lines a little more and get everyone into their game.”
Eller
scored his second goal of the season late in the first period and then
came up huge with the game winner, beating Jaroslav Halak on a slap shot
off the rush with 3:21 left to put the Capitals ahead for good. Eller
went to Montreal and Halak to St. Louis when they were traded for each
other in 2010.
“He was flying all over the ice, both sides of the
puck,” Chorney said about Eller. “When Lars is moving his feet like
that, he’s such a strong guy. He’s tough to contain. You could tell he
was playing with a lot of confidence tonight, and he got rewarded for
it.”
Eller only had the chance to put Washington ahead because
Holtby withstood an Islanders onslaught in the third. He made two big
saves on a late penalty kill and was up to the task when the ice was
tilted in his direction.
“He just didn’t look fazed at all,”
defenseman John Carlson said. “Every big save he had to come up with, he
did for us throughout the whole game.”
NOTES: Halak finished
with 15 saves. ... Islanders D Adam Pelech didn’t make the trip and is
day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
UP NEXT
Islanders: Return home to face the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night.
Capitals: Visit the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.
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