Capitals forward Tomas Fleischmann spent his summer lifting weights, riding an exercise bike and skating all by himself. On doctor’s orders, that’s about all the blood clot in his left leg allowed him to do.
It was hardly an ideal regimen for a player hoping to build on his breakthrough season in the NHL. He missed all of training camp and the first three weeks of the season, whiling away the hours just waiting for clearance.
Recommended Stories
Now that Fleischmann has finally received the go-ahead he is playing like a man who clearly missed the game. His performance Friday night at Verizon Center against the New York Islanders came in a losing effort, but Fleischmann scored two goals during the 4-3 overtime defeat and he was a dangerous player all night long.
That doesn’t exactly ease the frustration of a home loss to a team that entered with just three victories. But Fleischmann’s offensive talents can only help a team already brimming with skill. The 25-year-old spent last weekend on a brief conditioning assignment with AHL affiliate Hershey to shake the rust off his game that had accumulated over the last five months.
“I asked for the games in Hershey. I needed something like that,” said Fleischmann, who scored a career-high 19 goals last season. “Two months I was just skating – no contact. First contact was in the game with Hershey [last Saturday]. That first game for me was like a scrimmage.”
Fleischmann scored both of his goals in the second period, trading tallies with Islanders forward Frans Nielsen, who also had two. The teams traded scoring chances throughout the third period and went to overtime for the second time in a week. This time it was New York that earned the extra standings point when rookie center John Tavares found teammate Mark Streit alone in front. He beat Caps goalie Jose Theodore 53 seconds into overtime as the Islanders exacted a small bit of revenge. Last week, Washington erased a 2-0 third-period deficit and won in overtime on a deflection by Brooks Laich.
Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring in the first period with a power-play goal. That was No. 14 on the month, tying his career high set in March 2008. Kyle Okposo set that goal up with a four-minute penalty for high sticking. But he later made up for it with a first-period goal of his own.
Caps coach Bruce Boudreau was upset with the team after Thursday’s sloppy 4-3 win at Atlanta where a three-goal lead almost disappeared. He was less so on Friday. The Islanders have a young, talented top line with a ton of hard-working grinders backing them up. New York entered with just three wins, but had also lost five different games in overtime. The Islanders — with just a lone shootout win Oct. 21 against Carolina — felt they were due.
“Good teams deal with adversity and we’re becoming that team,” said New York goalie Dwayne Roloson, who finished with 37 saves on 40 shots.
The Caps took a 3-2 lead on Fleischmann’s second goal. He stood his ground in the crease and poked home a loose puck with several defenders around him. But just 67 seconds later, Nielsen answered. With little more than two minutes left in the second period the momentum swung back to New York.
“Our work ethic was there tonight for the most part,” said Caps center Brendan Morrison. “Maybe we just didn’t work so smart at times. Our special teams did a good job tonight … and when we do that we usually come out on top. We just didn’t put them away when we had the chance.”
That’s become a recurring theme for Washington — even if the Caps had won six in a row entering the game. Twice in the last week they almost let a three-goal lead slip away against Atlanta. They rallied from 2-0 deficits in the last week against both the Islanders and Philadelphia.
“I’m upset at the outcome because you like to keep these things going,” Boudreau said. “But at the same time we’re a team that’s played three [games] in four [days]. We’ve done pretty well.”
