Washington DC-Alex Ovechkin continued a hot start to the season with his fourth goal in as many games to tie the score at one after two periods of play against the New York Islanders.
Washington came out sluggish again in the second, but Ovechkin's tally woke up a silent crowd 18:19 into the period. He made a quick move at the top of the circle, using the defender as a screen to put the puck just out of the reach of Islanders goalie Dwayne Roloson.
While Ovechkin got the Caps on the board, the pace actually picked up after Matt Hendricks crowded Roloson 's crease during a scoring chance midway through the period. Roloson immediately grabbed Hendricks and both teams reacted to the dust-up. The atmosphere was chippy after each whistle following the incident and the Capitals had a good chance to tie it up after Andrew MacDonald went to the box for a slashing penalty 8:55 into the period.
However, Washington continued to struggle on the powerplay, failing to score once again with the man advantage. They are 0-3 tonight and 1-15 on the season.
The Islanders had an early powerplay as Eric Fehr went to the box at 2:49 for interference, but the Capitals killed off the penalty to remain perfect on the PK this season.