📸 : RMNB
The Washington Capitals did not play a pretty game against the New York Islanders, but they got the job done. They were led by their goaltender to the big 4-1 divisional victory.
Two points in the bag at the start of this big road trip. On to California.
Analytically, this was one of the Capitals’ worst five-on-five efforts of the season, and it honestly wasn’t that bad…and they won. That’s just how good they’ve been this season. At five-on-five, New York finished up 23-16 in scoring chances and 10-8 in high-danger chances, but even then, the Capitals ended the game with more overall expected goals, 4.77-4.19. Wow, look what a functioning power play can do.
Logan Thompson was the star of the show, making 30 stops on 31 shots against in his 11th win of the season. Per MoneyPuck, he saved an incredible 3.21 more goals than expected. The huge night catapulted him back into second in the stat overall this season (16.8), behind only Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (19.4). Just for the record, Jordan Binnington currently sits 71st (-3.7) in the league.
Another guy trying to make a big impression early this season, Tom Wilson, scored two goals and had three points overall in the win. Wilson is now on pace for a ridiculous 92 points (47g, 45a), which would be just a tad better than his previous career high set last year of 65 points (33g, 32a).
Washington’s 14 regulation wins are the second-most in the NHL.
— Capitals PR (@CapitalsPR) November 30, 2025
Alex Ovechkin potted his 909th career goal and 12th of this season into an empty net. After scoring just two goals in all of October, the 40-year-old winger is on pace to score 38 goals this season. He’s just not human, folks. What a ridiculous pass on Wilson’s first goal, too.
The 0.53 expected goals the Capitals generated on their two power-play chances are better than their results in 13 other games this season. Let me repeat, they only had two chances.
In seven games without both Pierre-Luc Dubois and Nic Dowd, the Capitals are 6-1. That’s incredibly impressive. In their last eight games overall, the Caps are 7-1-0 and have outscored their opponents 37-21 over that span.
Really good to start this four-game road trip out with two points against a divisional rival that was just one standings point behind the Capitals coming into the game. The three games out in California are not cake walks anymore, like they mostly have been in recent seasons, so it’s important they grab this win before heading out there.
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