Washington falls before three-game road trip Maybe the Capitals were so preoccupied with an upcoming road trip that they forgot to actually finish out their four-game homestand.
Facing a New York Islanders team that had played just 24 hours earlier, Washington was outhustled and outmuscled in a tepid 3-0 loss on Tuesday night at Verizon Center.
John Tavares and P.A. Parenteau each scored for the Islanders. Parenteau scored twice, including the goal that sealed the victory on a power play with 7 minutes, 22 seconds remaining. Goalie Evgeni Nabokov needed to make just 17 saves and earned a shutout as the Caps lost for the first time at home since Dec. 13, a string of seven games in a row. It was also the first time they had been shut out this season.
“I thought we were skating well early — but so were they,” Washington coach Dale Hunter said. “Just mistakes. And it’s costing us where people are getting beat. And the video don’t lie who gets beat or not.”
The Islanders (17-21-6, 40 points) took advantage of an early power play when defenseman Mark Streit faked a shot and instead directed a slap pass to Tavares at the right doorstep. He tapped in his 17th goal of the season at 12:05.
New York, a team that played Monday afternoon at home against Nashville, looked like the fresher team. That was a strikingly similar theme to Sunday’s game against Carolina, which the Caps still managed to win 2-1. Tuesday’s contest was the first time Washington (24-18-2, 50 points) trailed at home since that Dec. 13 loss to Philadelphia.
The Islanders drew three power-play opportunities in the first period alone. They didn’t need one for their second goal. Instead, an ill-advised cross-ice pass from rookie defenseman Dmitry Orlov resulted in a turnover. Frans Nielsen found Parenteau at the left circle and he beat Tomas Vokoun (25 saves) glove side with a wrister for a 2-0 lead at 6:05.
After Alex Ovechkin took a boarding penalty at 12:10 of the third period, Parenteau was at the left doorstep this time and slammed home a cross-crease feed from teammate Matt Moulson.
“I don’t know if I can pinpoint anything exactly,” forward Matt Hendricks said. “Every team is good in this league. It doesn’t matter who you play. If you’re not prepared to play every night as an individual, then you’re not going to be successful. I just think we didn’t do what we needed to do tonight.”
The Caps had won the first three games of a homestand at Verizon Center — each against a team that had played the night before. But this time they let an opportunity slip through their fingers and dropped to eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings with a game upcoming at Montreal on Wednesday — the first of three road games in five days.
“It’s a chance to get right back at it,” forward Brooks Laich said. “Same with what [the Islanders] went through. They played [Monday] and lost and came in here a hungry team.”
