There’s no way for the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals to recreate the unique set of circumstances that surrounded their two clashes at UBS Arena in April.
But the Islanders are hoping they can spend this season mimicking the blueprint the Capitals authored last season.
The Islanders will play their home opener Saturday night, when they host the Capitals in a battle of longtime Metropolitan Division rivals in Elmont, N.Y.
Both teams will be looking to bounce back from dropping their season opener earlier this week. The Islanders fell to the host Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Thursday, one night after the Capitals lost to the visiting Boston Bruins, 3-1.
Two of the Islanders’ final three home games last season were against the Capitals. Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky’s record for the most goals in NHL history on Apr. 6, when the left winger’s 895th career goal provided Washington’s lone scoring in the Islanders’ 4-1 win.
Nine days later, the Capitals beat the Islanders 3-1 in New York’s home finale and the final regular season home game for popular fourth-liner Matt Martin, who received first star honors before every Washington player lined up to shake his hand.
Martin officially retired in late June and became a special assistant to new general manager Mathieu Darche, who replaced Lou Lamoriello and is aiming to complete a Capitals-like retool of the Islanders.
New York finished 12th in the Eastern Conference with 82 points and hasn’t won a playoff series since making a second straight trip to the conference semifinals in 2021.
But the Islanders won the draft lottery and selected defenseman Matthew Schaefer. The 18-year-old joins a core that includes the club’s top four scorers from last season — Bo Horvat, Anders Lee, Kyle Palmieri and Simon Holmstrom — as well as former Calder Trophy winner and All-Star center Mathew Barzal, who missed 52 games last year due to upper body and kneecap injuries.
Schaefer collected his first NHL point Thursday, while Barzal and Holmstrom had an assist apiece and Palmieri scored a goal.
“You saw a retool in Washington last year, maybe a new energy,” said Lee, who is beginning his franchise-record eighth season as the Islanders’ captain. “Right back in the playoffs. We weren’t as far as it maybe felt.”
Washington led the Eastern Conference with 111 points last season and beat the Montreal Canadiens in a five-game quarterfinal series — the club’s first playoff victory since it hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2018. The Capitals fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference semifinals.
Ovechkin led the Capitals with 44 goals last season, but Washington’s six other 20-goal scorers were all 30 years of age or younger — including a pair of 24-year-olds in Aliaksei Protas and Connor McMichael, each of whom were drafted by Washington in 2019.
Protas had the secondary assist on Tom Wilson’s goal. Wilson was the Capitals’ second-leading goal scorer last season and is the Capitals’ third-longest tenured player behind Ovechkin and John Carlson.
The Capitals lost Wednesday despite outshooting the Bruins 36-22. Washington was 0-for-5 on the power play.
“I thought we played a solid game,” Ovechkin said. “We have lots of chances but obviously we didn’t score on our (power play) chances.”
–Field Level Media
