A second half collapse doomed the New York Islanders in Game 5, as they lost 5-1 to the Washington Capitals at a pivotal moment in their first round series.
Islanders vs. Capitals 2015 final score, NHL playoffs: Capitals earn series lead with 5-1 win
New York had no answer for Washington in Game 5.
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The Capitals now lead the series 3-2.
It wasn't all bad for New York. The Islanders gained the first lead of the game six minutes in, when Josh Bailey fired a snap shot past goalie Braden Holtby to give his team a 1-0 lead. Washington answered shortly after, as Evgeny Kuznetsov took a pass from Marcus Johansson and slotted it home to tie the game.
And the Capitals kept answering. A (relatively) quiet second period was highlighted by a Karl Alzner goal, who got a kiss from teammate Michael Latta afterwards. That little happy moment basically summed up the rest of the night for Washington.
Because it was a romp. The Capitals scored three more goals in the third, making it five unanswered scores to come away with a 5-1 win in Game 5.
3 Things We Learned
1. New York has to be better at face-offs.
A great way to negate your opponent’s home ice advantage is to beat them in the face-off circle. The Islanders failed at this in Game 5, getting doubled up on in face-off wins by the Capitals. When you dig a hole for yourself to climb out of, you have to start winning on the dots.
2. The Islanders’ defensive depth got exposed.
That said, New York was at a pretty severe disadvantage in Game 5 without Lubomir Visnovsky or Travis Hamonic available to play due to injuries. To make matters worse, Calvin de Haan suffered a injury of his own midway through the game, forcing the team to play with just five defensemen. No wonder things fell apart so quickly. If those two aren't healthy for Game 6, this series could be over quickly.
3. The Islanders hate Tom Wilson.
A lot.
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