The NY Islanders and Washington Capitals are playing live on the NHL playoffs schedule on Friday night and the Game 2 matchup from the Verizon Center has New York up 1-0 and they have the home ice now against Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals and the game starts at 7 pm ET on the NBC Sports Network and streaming online from the NBCSN Live Extra website.
The Islanders slumped during the second half of the season, but they gave the Capitals a nice game on Wednesday and won 4-1 to take a 1-0 series lead. The Caps have had a ton of playoff disappointment in recent years and the loss here was more of the same and now the team has to find a way to bounce back before shifting to New York.
The Islanders will be motivated to play well at home at Nassau Coliseum, as the team is finishing up their run there and the fans should be very intense. Jaroslav Halak played well for the Islanders and he helped put the pressure on the Capitals and now the Caps have to find a way to get things going on offense. The Islanders feel like they have nothing to lose and John Tavares said that the team is loose and ready to win the series.
Brock Nelson scored two goals and that was big for the Islanders and they come in after being one of the top scoring teams in the league. The team ranked fourth in the league in goals per game this season, although they were just 23rd in goals allowed per game. The Caps actually very good overall, as they were first in the league in power play percentage and in the top 10 in both scoring and goals against.
The team has not had much good fortune in the postseason in recent years and now they have to find a way to turn it around. Ovechkin is as good of a player as anyone, but he has not been able to take him team deep. The team was ranked sixth in the league in goals per game and seventh in goals allowed and now they are trying to avoid an 0-2 start in the postseason.
The Capitals played well at the end of the season and that is why they got home ice in the series and now to get it back they will have to win a game on Long Island. The team went 9-3-1 over the final 13 games to get the home ice and to out of a wild card spot and now they have the Islanders looking to push the lead in the series to two games.
Check here for the NY Islanders and Washington Capitals live coverage.