Game Preview: Islanders at Capitals

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (29-14-5) VS WASHINGTON CAPITALS (31-13-4)
7PM | CAPITAL ONE ARENA
WATCH: NBCSN | NHL.TV
LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | 1050AM
With the number of remaining regular-season games trimming down to single digits, the battle for points in the East Division continues to intensify.
The New York Islanders are winless (0-1-1) in their last two games, both against the Washington Capitals in a three-game set to close out their regular-season series. With the 6-3 loss on Saturday, the Islanders dropped down to third place (63 points) in the East Division. A Pittsburgh (67 points) win over fourth-place Boston (60 points) on Sunday bumped up the Penguins to first place and demoted Washington to second place (66 points).

The Islanders will have one more opportunity in the regular season to seek some redemption against the Capitals as the pair clash in the finale on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena. Through seven prior meetings, the Islanders are 2-4-1 while Washington is 5-2-0.
On Saturday night, the Capitals never trailed en route to their 6-3 win, whereas the Islanders dug themselves out of an in initial 2-0 hole, but self-inflicted mistakes cost them six even-strength goals against.
The plus side for the Islanders was a solid showing from its special teams, which powered its scoring with two goals on the power play from Anthony Beauvillier and Jean-Gabriel Pageau and one shorthanded goal from Adam Pelech. Ilya Sorokin recorded his first career start against the Caps and made 24 saves on 30 shots.
Washington, who played without captain and leading goal scorer Alexander Ovechkin, received a two-goal effort from Daniel Sprong while Garnet Hathaway, T.J. Oshie, Nic Dowd and Evgeny Kuznetsov also got on the board. Ilya Samsonov made his second-consecutive start with 21 saves in the win.
"We need all our lines going," Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "It's impossible to beat a team that's pushing. For them, I thought they had all four lines going. For us, I didn't feel like we had all four lines going. I felt like we might have had two...I give our guys credit, we dug ourselves a bit of a hole, we fought out of it, then we put ourselves right back in the hole, then we fought of it and then they get an easy goal. That - mentally - was a tough game for us."

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• Following Monday's practice, Trotz confirmed that there would be changes to the lineup in Tuesday's game against Washington.
• For the first time since Feb. 23, 2016, the Islanders scored twice on the power play and once shorthanded as they did so in a 4-1 win in Minnesota.
• Beauvillier tallied his 10th goal of the season and third PPG. The 23-year-old winger now has 20 points (10G, 10A) through 39 games.
• Pageau recorded his 14th goal of the season - which is the third most among the Islanders - and his fifth strike on the power play, only second to Brock Nelson's six PPGs. The centerman has points in three of his last four games with four points (2G, 2A) in that span.
ISLANDERS VS CAPITALS
ISLANDERS ARTICLES
5 Takeaways: Islanders 3, Capitals 6
Day to Day: 04/26 Practice Update
Prospect Report: April 26, 2021
The Bridgeport Report: April 26, 2021
ISLANDERS VIDEO
Trotz Pregame: Coming Soon
Video: Mathew Barzal Pregame
Video: Ryan Pulock Pregame
GAME EXTRAS
Arena Safety FAQ
Fan Cutout Gallery
Hockey With a Heart
• Pelech tallied his third goal of the season and first shorthanded goal. The defenseman has totaled 11 points (3G, 8A) through 48 games.
• Sorokin allowed six goals for the first time in his career as his record dropped to 12-5-1. The rookie netminder also suffered his first home loss after becoming the first goalie in NHL history to win his first eight career starts in one season. Sorokin has a 2.25 GAA and a .914 SV%.
• Travis Zajac rejoined the lineup in place of Leo Komarov. Zajac played 16:48 and won six of his nine faceoffs on the night.
• The Islanders power play went 2-for-2, after going 1-for-15 in the last five games. In the NHL, the Islanders PP unit is 23rd overall (18.5%).
• The Islanders penalty kill was 1-for-1 against Washington's lethal power play that is ranked second in the NHL (26.7%). The Islanders recorded their third shorthanded goal of the season with Pelech's tally. The Islanders have killed 24 of the last 25 opponent power plays.
• In the last eight games, the Islanders have scored only 15 goals (two in overtime), including their six-goal performance against the New York Rangers on April 20th.
• The Islanders are 20-1-2 when scoring first and are 9-13-3 when allowing the opening goal.
• The Islanders' magic number for clinching a playoff spot remains eight over the Rangers and five over Philadelphia. New Jersey and Buffalo cannot catch the Islanders in the playoff hunt.

CAPITALS NOTES:

*Update: Alexander Ovechkin and Justin Schultz will not play per Capitals Head Coach Peter Laviolette. Vitek Vanecek will start in net.
• Laviolette confirmed that Ovechkin did not practice with the team on Monday and that his status is uncertain to face the Islanders on Tuesday. Defenseman Justin Schultz, who has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury he sustained on April 18, joined the team for practice on Monday. Schultz wore a non-contact jersey and is uncertain for Tuesday's game.
• The Caps improved to 4-0-1 this season and 18-14-3 all-time when Ovechkin is not in the lineup.
• Washington received all goals at even-strength and earned a goal from three of its four lines.
• Sprong scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season as he drew in the lineup in place of Ovechkin and after being a healthy scratch in the game prior.
• Hathaway tallied his fifth goal of the season, while Dowd scored his ninth of this year's campaign.
• Oshie is second in goals for Washington as he deposited his 17th goal of the season. The winger's 38 points are the third most among the Caps.
• Kuznetsov, who provided the Caps with the shootout winner over the Islanders on Thursday night, lit the lamp for the ninth time this season and recorded his 28th point with his game-high three-point (1G, 2A) outing.
• Samsonov improved to 13-3-1 with his win on Saturday. The Russian netminder has a 2.67 GAA and a .903 SV%.
• Defenseman Brendan Dillon finished the game with a game-best plus-four rating.
• Veteran defenseman Zdeno Chara skated in his 1,600 career game, becoming just the fifth defenseman in NHL history to do so.
• Ovechkin is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury that he sustained against the Islanders on Thursday night in the final minutes of the third period.
• While the Capitals special teams went 0-for-1 on the power play and 0-for-2 on the PK, both units still rank in the top-10 in the NHL. Washington's power play is ranked second overall (26.7%) and its PK unit ranks eighth (82.5%).