“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Apparently that’s what Alexander Ovechkin was thinking after he was denied by the goalpost with 51 seconds left in overtime against the New York Islanders. However, with 10.7 seconds left in the extra period, Alexander Ovechkin tried again. This time, he beat Islanders goalie Joey MacDonald AND the goalpost to lift the Washington Capitals to a 5-4 overtime victory over the Islanders.
The 11,655 fans at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York witnessed the Islanders come back from a 2-goal deficit in the third period only to fall victim to the stick of the 23-year old Russian superstar, who found the net for the 19th time this season.
Boyd Gordon scored the first goal of the game 2:54 into the first period to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead. A Brooks Laich goal 11 minutes later gave Washington a 2-goal lead. However, on an Islander Power Play, Doug Weight shot a puck that bounced off of Tom Poti’s stick and past Washington goalie Brent Johnson to cut the Washington lead in half.
Milan Jurcina restored the Capitals’ two-goal lead six minutes into the middle period. However, Richard Park answered with a power play of his own to cut the Washington lead to one again. However, Ovechkin would find the net to give Washington its two-goal lead back. After the second period, Washington led 4 to 2.
In the third period, Washington’s conservative play allowed the Islanders to strike twice. Andy Sutton and Jon Sim both scored goals for New York. However, the comeback party was crashed by none other than Ovechkin when his wrist shot beat MacDonald in overtime.
Brent Johnson stopped 35 of 39 Islander shots while Joey MacDonald made just as many saves on 40 Washington shots.
The Capitals, who improved to 19-10-3 on the season, are 11-1-1 this season when Ovechkin scores a goal. As for the Islanders, they fell to 10-18-3 on the season.
