Mike Green has further proven himself a Norris Trophy finalist after scoring two power-play goals to lead the Washington Capitals to a 5-3 victory over the New York Islanders in front of 18,277 at Verizon Center. Green’s goals, scored just 83 seconds apart from one another, give him a total of 30 on the year.
Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said, “When he’s on, he’s pretty good to watch.”
Kyle Okposo started off the scoring with his 18th goal of the year on the power play in the first period. In the second period, Frans Nielsen, who assisted on Okposo’s goal, scored a goal of his own to put the Islanders ahead 2 to 0.
It was Alexander Ovechkin’s 54th goal that started off the scoring for Washington. Keith Aucoin scored his first goal since March 2008 to tie the game at two after period two.
Richard Park scored an unassisted goal to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead. However, Mike Green tied the game with his 29th goal of the year midway through the third period.
The Islanders scored what they thought was the go-ahead goal, but it was waived off because of Tim Jackman interfering with Capitals goalie Jose Theodore.
Islanders coach Scott Gordon said, “I didn’t think Jacks did anything wrong. It’s a huge momentum swing.” A huge momentum swing it was as just twelve seconds after Jackman took the penalty, Green scored his 30th goal of the year to give the Capitals their first lead of the night.
Nicklas Backstrom added an empty net goal at the end of the game to seal Washington’s victory over New York; the Capitals have swept the Islanders for the first time since the 2002-03 season.
With this win, the Capitals improved their record to 47-23-7 while the Islanders fell to 25-42-9. Their 47 wins is the most in franchise history since 1983-84, and their 101 points is the most since 1999-00 when they garnered 102.
The Capitals are inching towards their second consecutive division title; a Hurricanes loss or a Capitals win/overtime loss would clinch the division for Washington.
