The Washington Capitals secured an early lead on Saturday night against the New York Islanders, and they sure needed it.
Martin Fehervary kicked us off early, assisted by Alex Ovechkin. Aliaksei Protas followed with his first goal of the season after some strong forechecking.
In the second period, Ryan Leonard scored his first NHL goal against an actual NHL goalie. Protas doubled his goal total with an unassisted breakaway against Tony DeAngelo, who — surprise! — he’s in the NHL again. The period ended with Anthony Duclair, a.k.a. the good Tony, beating Logan Thompson seven seconds into a power play.
Enter the third period. Matthew Shaefer, looking like a problematic Twitch streamer, scored his first NHL goal, but it took almost ten minutes of review to deem it so. The Caps survived the ensuing delay-of-game penalty for losing the challenge and held on to win.
Caps beat Islanders 4-2!
- Every October I get obsessed with stat nerds’ projections. The Islanders finished sixth in the division last season with 82 points. The most optimistic projection for them in 2025-26 is four points better. Have fun, fans!
- But Matthew Schaefer, defender and 2025’s first overall draft pick, looks real sharp. I don’t fully understand how his goal counted after the hand pass, but even the very wise cannot see all ends. It was also unfortunate that Jakob Chychrun hit the young star with a flying elbow in the second period. If Shaefer didn’t deserve his goal, the Caps surely deserved to get scored on for the elbowing penalty.
- Aliaksei Protas had the 8th highest shooting percentage among forwards last season, so that’s what haters cite when they predict he’ll disappont this year. But Pro had two goals on Saturday night, so haters can shut up. The second was unassisted and looked like this:
- Then again, the defender was Tony DeAngelo.
- The Caps were wearing their blue helmets in this one. I think they look just fine, but I don’t have any taste for hockey jerseys. And I don’t understand other people’s tastes either. Every uniform in every sport is kinda garish. Who are we kidding?
- Ryan Leonard scored his first real NHL goal, a patient wrister set up by Chychrun and deflected in by some Islander’s stick. Leonard’s technically first NHL goal was fake, against an empty net, on the night of 894. Leonard also had a great defensive pokecheck to break up a rush play. I’m excited for his season.
- Challenge: Tell a non-hockey person that the Islanders have a pairing of guys called Pelech and Pullock. They will not believe you.
Back. #joebsuitofthenight
I’m not mega enthusiastic about the Capitals’ play through two games, but I’m mega enthusiastic about the Capitals playing again in general. It’s good to see Joe B and Locker, it’s good to see Ovechkin, it’s good to see overpassing on the power play, it’s good to see the Caps half-assing the back half, it’s good to see them giving a rookie his first NHL goal, it’s good to see a goal review that took as long as “All Too Well.” Actually, never mind, a lot of those things are bad, but complaining about hockey is good because we get to do it together.
Let’s do it together again tomorrow night, as the Capitals take Manhattan.
