Mathew Barzal scored in overtime for the New York Islanders to give his team a 2-1 win and a 3-0 lead in their series against the Washington Capitals on Sunday in Toronto.
Barzal found himself alone ahead of Braden Holtby after accepting a assist from teammate Jordan Eberle in extra period. It was his second goal of the playoffs.
“Mat wants to be the one who will make the difference and today [dimanche], he had the opportunity and he capitalized, said at a press conference Islanders coach Barry Trotz. I really like the way Mathew is improving. He is constantly improving as a player and his experience will grow too. ”
The Capitals, who have lost five of their six games since the resumption of activities in the National Hockey League (NHL) will face elimination on Tuesday in this quarterfinal series of the Eastern Conference.
“I think we should go get a first game and see where it takes us. It’s doable, forward Tom Wilson told the NHL.com. Obviously our backs are against the wall, but it starts with one. I expect the guys to show up and persevere through this. ”
Deviation
Forward Anders Lee was the first player to shine the red light in this game. Well installed in front of the cage defended by Holtby, Lee deflected a low shot from defenseman Adam Pelech in the first period.
Evgeny Kuznetsov, however, responded with a perfect shot on a power play during the second period. He fired as his teammate Tom Wilson obstructed the view of goalkeeper Semyon Varlamov.
Holtby eventually made 32 saves, while Varlamov was put to the test 23 times.
Asked about this three-game lead to zero, Lee recalled that the series was not over yet. “There is no part harder to get than part of the playoffs, and it will be different in game number 4, predicted the captain of the“ Isles ”. It will be a tough, tough game. We played well tonight and we managed to win, but there is still a lot of work to be done for it to end well. ”
Sans Backstrom
Nicklas Backstrom did not attend this meeting. After missing the second duel of the series, Backstrom had yet resumed training on Saturday.
Backstrom had to leave the initial meeting of this series after being tackled hard by Lee. It has been limited to one assist in four parts since the resumption of operations.
“Nicklas is a great player, there’s no doubt about that,” said coach Todd Reirden. We know injuries are part of the game and knowing that he’s known to be a leader and an elite offensive player is tough on us. But it’s up to us to work and find solutions and the guys who are banged up aren’t playing 100%. ”
The next game in this series is Tuesday night in Toronto.
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