Washington Capitals' Resiliency Toughest Opponent Islanders Will Face in Series

Washington Capitals fans could be forgiven if they were having nightmarish flashbacks Friday night.

There were the Capitals throwing puck after puck after puck after…you get it…on net, dominating the game territorially. Yet they were down two goals because Jaroslav Halak was blocking everything that reached his net while his teammates were blocking everything else. It was reminiscent of the 2010 playoffs, when the heavily favored Capitals had their season ended by Halak and the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens despite shot-attempt dominance.

There are still five games to go in this best-of-seven series, but the resiliency and steadiness showed by the Capitals in their 4-3 win in Game 2 over the Islanders should give those perennially disappointed Capitals fans a reason to feel good about the next five games and beyond in this postseason.

The Capitals had every reason to wilt or even just flat out lose this game, especially when goaltender Braden Holtby (flu) was unable to play, leaving rookie Philipp Grubauer to make his postseason debut, an unimpressive one.

Grubauer seemed incapable of making a difficult save, and when New York winger Kyle Okposo re-established a two-goal edge less than three minutes after Karl Alzner got the Capitals on the board midway through the second period, it would've been understandable if the air entirely went out of the Capitals bench.

It just didn't happen.

"We said to each other, 'stick to the game plan,'" Nicklas Backstrom said after the game, per Monumental Network. Backstrom scored the tying goal on the power play early in the third period. "I thought we played a lot better today [compared to Game 1] overall, 60 minutes. It was a tough start, down 2-0. I mean, we stuck with it. … I thought we had the momentum there in the second.

"It's a good thing to never give up."

And it wasn't one player or one line carrying the Capitals; it was a team-wide dedication to sticking with the system that got them this far.

Through two periods, the Islanders led 3-2. The Capitals were dominating the even-strength shot-attempt battle, however, 62-26, although that would mean very little if the Capitals didn't find a tying goal in the final 20 minutes.

"They collapse in front of the net and they block shots, like all teams in the playoffs," Backstrom told reporters, per Monumental Network. "This is how you get through them."

Since this is hockey, and sometimes the math doesn't matter, the Capitals were able to tie the game not because of shot volume, but because the Islanders lost their discipline after a whistle. New York's Ryan Strome jammed Tom Wilson in the midsection with his stick, perhaps the actions of a player exhausted by playing defense for most of the game, and he was called for a two-minute slashing penalty. The Capitals made it count.

Backstrom backed down the Islanders defense and scored a power-play goal at the 3:44 mark. Less than four minutes later, with the Islanders again looking heavy-legged and lost in their own zone, Jason Chimera whipped a long shot past Halak to put the Capitals ahead for good.

"They blocked a ton in the first," Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen said, via Monumental Network. "But we had a ton of zone time and as the game went on, I think we saw the results of wearing them down by attacking the net, continuing to throw pucks there, recovering pucks. Just keeping the heat on them. Even if we weren't getting shots on the net because they were blocking them, those kinds of things have an effect on the game."

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

It's not that the Capitals stole this game. They played well enough to win it. But it feels somewhat larcenous considering the circumstances in net and on the scoreboard after two periods. It's more like the Capitals stole from the IRS, but all they took was the tax refund they were owed anyway, and not a penny more.

"Maybe we didn't score right and we weren't up right away," Wilson told reporters. "We had to keep pounding the rock and staying on them, and it pays off in the long run.

Holtby should be back for Game 3—Game 4 at the latest—which means if the Capitals repeat this performance, they shouldn't be chasing leads with their rock in net. Friday's victory is the type of win that can instill confidence or remind players who occasionally need reminding that they need to trust process.

"First period, we're playing good. One mistake, it went in our net. Second period, we're playing good. One mistake, it went in our net. We knew we had to keep on going," Chimera said after the game. "It was frustrating to see that happen. Overall, we stuck with it. We knew were playing pretty good. We just had to keep on going.

"We stuck to our game plan and it paid off."

All statistics via NHL.com. Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @DaveLozo.