Here is what to watch for when the Washington Capitals host the New York Islanders for Game 2 of their opening-round series at the Verizon Center:
Holtby feeling ill: Goalie Braden Holtby is under the weather and was not on the ice for the Capitals' morning skate, and Philipp Grubauer was recalled from the team's AHL affiliate as a precautionary measure and will remain with the team through Friday's game. But Holtby is expected to start Game 2. "As of right now, he's preparing to play,” backup Justin Peters said after the team's workout. Head coach Barry Trotz confirmed the expectation that Holtby would start. "Unorthodox for him [not to skate]; obviously he'd like to but he's been under the weather since Game 1. Just felt the best chance for us is get him through warm-up and go from there," Trotz told reporters. Holtby did not take part in an optional skate on Thursday either. "When you're not feeling well, no sense draining yourself any more," Trotz said. One thing is certain, assuming Holtby is ready to play Friday night, he's got to be better than he was in Game 1. His poor reaction to Brock Nelson's ordinary wrist shot in the first period gave the Islanders an early lead and early confidence, two things the Caps were hoping to avoid.
Wilson in, Latta out: Tom Wilson has been cleared to play and will draw back into the Capitals' lineup after being sidelined with a concussion after taking a puck to the head late in the regular season. Michael Latta will come out. Wilson brings more toughness to a Capitals lineup that feels it can wear down the Islanders over the course of games and the series itself. The Capitals outhit the Islanders 46-36 in Game 1, although that stat can be misleading because the more hits you deliver, the less you have the puck. "Obviously, watching Game 1 was pretty tough. You never want to watch your team go on and do battle without you. It's tough," Wilson said. Wilson will slot in to a fourth-line unit with Brooks Laich and Curtis Glencross. "We're going to try and match that fourth line's hits," Wilson said of the Islanders' effective unit of Matt Martin-Cal Clutterbuck-Casey Cizikas. The Islanders are expected to use the same Game 1 lineup that delivered an impressive 4-1 victory.
Stay the course: Discipline. The Islanders had it in Game 1. The Capitals? Not so much. Jason Chimera took a couple of ill-advised penalties, one at the end of the second period and another at the end of the game. The Capitals want to tread a fine line while trying to wear down the Islanders and not give the talented group power-play time. No power-play goals were scored in the first game, but that's a trend that isn't likely to continue. The Islanders will be especially interested in not allowing Alex Ovechkin & Co. to get their power play ramped up. The Caps had two power-play opportunities in Game 1, and if the Islanders can keep the Caps' power-play time in that range, it will put more pressure on the Capitals to score at even strength. "Yeah, it's big," said Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck. "Staying out of the box is obviously a recipe for success against one of the best power plays and one of the best power-play players in the world." If you're the Caps, the way to get more power-play time is to have the puck more and force the Islanders into mistakes and penalties. It didn't happen much at all in Game 1.
Caps need to bring more: Let's assume the Capitals are going to make good on their promise to bring more emotion from the get-go, something that was curiously missing in Game 1. How will the Islanders respond when the ante gets upped? Islanders coach Jack Capuano reiterated Friday morning that he was pleased with how his younger players responded in Game 1. "But it's how you progress," Capuano said. "It’s about consistency." Added Clutterbuck, "I think for us it's just about hitting the reset button." It will be interesting to see if Trotz continues to rotate his top two line combinations in an effort to find an offensive spark and to get more favorable matchups. Ovechkin split time playing with centers Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov, and ended up leading all players with eight shots on goal.
Expected lineups:
Capitals
Alexander Ovechkin-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Joel Ward
Marcus Johansson-Nicklas Backstrom-Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera-Eric Fehr-Jay Beagle
Curtis Glencross-Tom Wilson-Brooks Laich
Braden Holtby
Islanders
Nikolay Kulemin-John Tavares-Ryan Strome
Josh Bailey-Frans Nielsen-Kyle Okposo
Anders Lee-Brock Nelson-Michael Grabner
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck