The Islanders dominated games 1 and 2 of their first-round series with the Washington Capitals. Game 3 was a chance to take complete control. Adam Pelech gave Anders Lee a perfect pass to give New York the lead in the first, but Evgeny Kuznetsov sniped top corner on the power play to tie it in the second. Despite numerous chances and a 32-20 shot advantage, the Islanders were unable to beat Braden Holtby in the third, forcing overtime.

The first big chance went to Washington as Jakub Vrana broke in one-on-one with Semyon Varlamov but the Russian netminder stood tall. Later in the sequence, Jordan Eberle found Mat Barzal breaking behind the defense and Barzal cut-in, beating Holtby on the backhand and giving the Islanders a 3-0 series lead. It began with a nice breakout pass and was helped by a Norris Trophy candidate’s defensive lapse. Let’s break it down.

The play starts with all five Islanders below the dots in their own zone. As the breakout develops, Barzal flies the zone, Eberle makes himself available near the blue line and the right-wing boards and Derick Brassard picked up the pass off the left-wing boards from Andy Greene. Brassard survives a fly-by poke check from former Rangers teammate Carl Hagelin. All three Washington forwards get caught on the same side of the ice, giving Eberle a wide-open opportunity to receive the cross-ice pass.

While this is happening, Barzal slides behind John Carlson and Brendan Dillon at the Caps’ blue line. As Eberle receives the puck, Barzal rides the blue line to stay onside. The pass surprises, and ultimately beats, Dillon. Barzal speeds in on the right-wing with Carlson trying to cut off the angle. His speed is too much for the Norris Trophy finalist as Barzal absorbs a poke attempt before pulling the puck to his backhand and depositing it in the empty cage around Holtby.

It’s always important to keep your head on a swivel in hockey and Carlson didn’t know where Barzal was on the ice until too late. This mistake allowed Barzal a free lane to the net after a feat of athleticism to stay onside. There was not much Holtby could do with Barzal protecting the puck from the chasing Carlson with his body and his quick hands to get the puck around the Washington netminder.

Game 4 is on Tuesday and a confident Barzal is the last thing the Capitals need as they look to save their season. The Islanders’ domination in 5-on-5 play should be a huge factor as New York goes for the sweep.

John Smark