One day after their second straight embarrassingly ugly loss on the road to the New York Rangers, the Washington Capitals remain in the Empire State tonight to take on the New York Islanders, with hopes of improvement.
Tonight's game may not have started off as poorly as the last, but the Capitals found themselves down early, facing a 1-0 deficit at the end of the first period. Kyle Oksopo scored his third goal of the season for the Islanders with 13:48 gone in the game, and continued their scoring in the early stages of the second period as Travis Hamonic intercepted a John Carlson clearance and scored an unassisted goal through traffic to double the Islanders' lead.
The Capitals looked much sharper in the second period though, and look to be on their way back if they can keep up their aggression. Brooks Laich cut New York's lead in half at the midway point of the game, putting the puck between the legs of Islanders goaltender Al Montoya. Washington outshot the Islanders 10-8 in the second period, and will need to keep the pressure on to get a win tonight on the road.