(Photos by Jacob Weinberger)
As the Washington Capitals warmed up on the Barclays Center ice, I saw one man standing alone in the tunnel leading to the locker room with a number 14 Capitals sweatshirt and hat.
“Mike! Welcome to D.C.!” I yelled.
I received a smile and a nod of approval in return.
I am going out on a limb and saying that I was the first Caps fan to personally welcome Mike Richards to the team. Fortunately both of us got to watch our team skate to a 4-1 win in Brooklyn. Although I’m sure Richards would have much rather been on the ice.
I had a wonderful experience in Brooklyn. The surrounding area, the hometown fans, and the atmosphere were exceptional. The area around Barclays Center is very family-oriented. In fact, most of the people I saw were families with young kids. However, it’s different from the area nearby Verizon Center. In Brooklyn, there aren’t many restaurants or stores directly outside the stadium. It took about a 20-minute walk to the pizza place that my family, friends and I went to. That’s not to say the pizza wasn’t amazing. It was. It’s called La Villa Pizzeria, and they make homemade mozzarella cheese for their pizza that is to-die-for. If you’re ever in the area, go there.
Barclays Center is beautiful from the outside. As I walked towards the stadium in my red Braden Holtby jersey, my red Wizards hat with “D.C.” written in big letters, and my Caps 2015 NHL playoffs rally towel, I couldn’t help but notice how wide the entrance was. The main entrance area is huge, and it works perfectly because it prevents any long lines or big crowds from forming. In that aspect, it certainly tops Verizon Center.
The interior looks like any other arena, with one exception.
Behind one goal, there is virtually no seating. There are maybe five rows on the glass, and then nothing (except for a car on display). On the second level, there’s only media seating. However, the media section was practically empty, making the stadium look much less full. The empty areas certainly could have been used to fit a couple thousand more fans.
As warm-ups began and the Caps skated out of the tunnel, I was surprised by the number of Islanders fans that would rather boo the Caps at this end of the ice than cheer on their team at the other end. This led me to believe that this game was going to have the atmosphere of Nassau Coliseum, which was second to none.
I was mistaken. The atmosphere was good, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve seen better. Granted, the Caps began the game with an excellent shift and then a goal before the game was six minutes old. There were a few good “Let’s Go Islanders!” chants, but the loudest fan I heard was a Caps fan near the penalty box screaming “Let’s Go Caps!” and “C-A-P-S Caps Caps Caps!”
The crowd picked up when the Islanders scored early the second period to cut the deficit to one. Later in the frame, the Islanders went on a power play where they seemingly fired 20 shots on goal, but somehow Holtby kept them all out. The crowd was louder than I had ever heard it. You could feel a goal coming. Unexpectedly, it came from the Caps.
Immediately following the penalty kill, Nicklas Backstrom forced a turnover behind Halak’s net and delivered a brilliant feed to Nate Schmidt who one-timed a rocket past Halak’s blocker.
It looked like every Caps fan in the building went crazy. Around 20 Caps fans seated together in a section behind Halak’s goal were going insane, and so was I. It was undoubtedly the loudest I cheered all night. That goal brought much needed relief, and noticeably felt like a dagger to all Islander fans.
We all know what it means when the Caps lead after two periods. They don’t lose. It was the same story last night.
The entire third period felt like a bad Islanders power play, with the Caps sprinkling in some good chances. The Islanders had decent offensive zonetime, but could not muster enough scoring chances to pierce Holtby.
Once again, the defense held their own without the top pairing of Orpik and Carlson. Matt Niskanen, who has consistently logged more time on ice than anyone else on the team in the absence of Carlson, was once again brilliant. He played sitfling defense, recording six blocks and a hit. And he is always reliable on the power play.
Dmitry Orlov also continues to play extremely well. Orlov looked like the best skater and puck handler on the ice last night. In fact, he drew a tripping penalty through his sleek skating ability.
As expected, Holtby was marvelous, and I made sure to applaud his efforts numerous times throughout the game.
Jason Chimera was fantastic. He scored the opening goal from an awkward angle, and was second only to Ovechkin in shots on goal (seven), in less than 14 minutes of ice time.
Finally, I was pleasantly surprised by how I was treated by the Islander faithful. I didn’t hear anyone yell profanity, and I wasn’t heckled at all. Maybe that’s because I’m 6-foot-3 and my older brother who sat next to me is 6-foot-6. Or maybe it’s because these are fans from Brooklyn and not the fans that keyed Caps fans’ cars in Long Island during last season’s playoffs.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience, capped off by a Capitals win. I’ll have another story about my experiences at Madison Square Garden following Saturday’s game.
