Game Preview: Islanders at Capitals

New York Islanders (8-10-4) at Washington Capitals (13-6-2)

"We got the win, which is great, but you can't get the win that way," Chimera said. "You can't give up a three-goal lead in the third period. You can't sit back against any team."

The Islanders play another rival with quick-strike potential when they visit the Washington Capitals on Thursday night at Verizon Center (7 p.m., MSG+). Chimera hopes the Islanders learned from their close shave with the Penguins.
"It's the same caliber of team, if you just give them a chance, they are going to score goals," Chimera said. "You're not going to limit all of their chances, but sure make them work for it. A lot of the chances we gave up in the third period today we can't give up or Washington will hurt us the same way."
The Islanders are looking to carry over the good things they did in Wednesday's win. They scored five goals in regulation for the first time since Oct. 30 and had at least five more AAA chances, including a pair of posts, Kris Letang's goal line save and a circus catch by Matt Murray.
They forechecked hard and got secondary scoring from the likes of Chimera, Casey Cizikas and Anders Lee and crashed the net, much to the delight of head coach Jack Capuano.
"As a coach, that's where you want to see your guys go," Capuano said. "That's where you're going to score in this league. You go to those dirty areas."
The Islanders are also taking some confidence into Washington, having won two straight games.
"That was big for us," Lee said. "It was an ugly third, but we won the game and right now we need that kind of momentum."

Islanders Face Capitals For Second Time:

The Islanders are making their second trip to Verizon Center this season after dropping a 2-1 decision to the Capitals on Oct. 15. The Islanders contained the Capitals' top scorers that night, as Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov were all held pointless.
Containing the Capitals big three will be a top priority again on Thursday.

Scott Mayfield Gets Two Assists in Return to Lineup:

Scott Mayfield had a pair of assists in Wednesday's win, the first two assists of his NHL career. The defenseman was playing in his second game of the season and skated on a pairing with Calvin de Haan.
Mayfield's insertion into the lineup was one of three changes to the Islanders pairings, as Johnny Boychuk was reunited with Nick Leddy, while Travis Hamonic was paired with Thomas Hickey.

Capitals Notes:

The Capitals have won four of their past six games, but have been off since a 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs five days ago.
Alex Ovechkin has six points (4G, 2A) on a four-game point streak, while Nicklas Backstrom has five points (2G, 3A) in his last four games. Evgeny Kuznetsov has struggled this season with nine points (3G, 6A) in 21 games.
Braden Holtby is 10-5-1 with a 2.18 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.