The Capitals kicked off a demanding four-game road swing in style on Sunday, taking care of business with a 4-1 win over the Islanders at UBS Arena. It wasn’t their cleanest performance of the season, but it was effective - and thanks to a rock-solid showing from goaltender Logan Thompson, it was also their fourth straight win, tying their longest streak of the season.
Tom Wilson led the offensive charge with two goals and an assist, but this one belonged to Thompson. The Caps netminder turned aside 30 shots, including several high-danger chances early, to earn his 11th win of the season. The final score was padded by a pair of empty-netters, but make no mistake - without Thompson’s first-period heroics, this game could’ve gone sideways fast.
A Goalie Steals the Spotlight
Let’s start with the obvious: Washington didn’t bring their A-game in the opening frame. The Islanders came out flying, generating odd-man rushes and testing the Caps' defensive structure early and often. If not for Thompson, the Caps might’ve been chasing this one from behind.
“He gave us a chance early on to find our footing,” head coach Spencer Carbery said postgame. “We gave up too many odd-man rushes early… he bails us out and gives us a chance to find our footing.”
That’s not coach-speak - that’s fact. Thompson’s first big moment came less than a minute into the game, flashing the leather with an old-school windmill glove save on Anders Lee off a 2-on-1 setup from Mat Barzal.
That set the tone. He followed it up with a series of sharp stops, including two more on Lee down low and a wraparound denial on Barzal in the final minute of the first.
The Caps needed every one of those saves. Afternoon games can be tricky - routines get thrown off, and it can take a while to get the legs going. But while Washington was still shaking off the cobwebs, Thompson was already locked in.
Power Play Sparks Early Lead
The breakthrough came midway through the first period, thanks to the man advantage. After Ryan Leonard drew a tripping call on Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer, the Caps wasted no time capitalizing.
Dylan Strome won the draw, Leonard found a seam on the right side, and zipped a cross-ice pass to Alex Ovechkin. From there, Ovechkin threaded it down low to Wilson, who beat Ilya Sorokin short-side from the goal line. Just 12 seconds into the power play, Washington had a 1-0 lead.
“That’s a heck of a play,” Carbery said of Ovechkin’s setup - his team-leading 12th primary assist of the season. “To win a game like this on the road when you don’t have your best, you need a few things - special teams, goaltending. We got both.”
Wilson’s Heads-Up Read Doubles the Lead
The second period didn’t bring much sustained pressure from the Caps - in fact, they spent a good chunk of it killing penalties. But again, Thompson was up to the task, including a sharp lateral stop on Max Shabonov during one shorthanded stretch.
Then came a gift goal, courtesy of a rare miscue from Sorokin. The Islanders goalie went behind the net to play a dump-in and tried to fire a pass up the middle to Schaefer. Wilson read it, got a stick on the puck, and backhanded it into the yawning cage to make it 2-0.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had one of those in my career,” Wilson admitted. “It was kind of lucky… I just made a bit of a read and got lucky to knock it down.”
Call it luck, call it instinct - either way, it ended up being the game-winner.
Islanders Push, Thompson Holds the Line
The third period was a grind for Washington. They managed just two shots on goal in the first 18 minutes - one of which came from neutral ice.
The Islanders, meanwhile, kept pushing. They finally broke through on the power play when Bo Horvat buried a rebound to cut the lead to 2-1 with just over six minutes left.
New York controlled the puck, racked up offensive zone time, and peppered Thompson with high-danger looks. But the Caps' netminder never blinked. He tracked the puck through traffic, controlled rebounds, and made sure the Islanders never got the equalizer.
Closing Time: Protas and Ovechkin Seal It
With time winding down, Washington got a smart play from defenseman Matt Roy, who spotted Aliaksei Protas streaking up the ice and banked a pass off the boards. Protas beat his man to the puck and one-timed it into the net from a tough angle to restore the two-goal cushion at 18:49.
Then, with the Islanders’ net empty, Ovechkin added the exclamation point - career goal No. 909 - to lock in the 4-1 win.
Caps Keep Rolling
Wilson’s three-point night moved him past T.J. Oshie and Dave Christian into eighth place on the franchise’s all-time goals list. But the veteran winger was more focused on the team effort.
“The guys did a great job down the stretch,” he said. “It wasn’t our best 60 [minutes] per se, but we did enough to get it done.”
That’s been a theme lately. Washington has now won seven of its last eight games (7-1-0), and while not every win has been pretty, they’re finding ways to bank points - a crucial trait during a stretch like this.
With three more games ahead on this road trip, including a tough West Coast swing, the Caps are building momentum at just the right time. And if Logan Thompson keeps playing like this, they’re going to be a tough out for anyone.