Recap: Capitals 4, Islanders 2

For the second straight game, the Islanders headed into the third period tied 2-2, but couldn't find a way to break through.
Matt Niskanen scored a pair of third period goals for the Washington Capitals, as the New York Islanders fell 4-2 at Barclays Center on Tuesday night.

Game Summary - Event Summary
"This is the second game in a row we go into the third period tied 2-2 and we don't come away with a point," Casey Cizikas said. "It's frustrating, especially with the start that we had. We have to be finding ways to win these games."
Niskanen scored in the first and last two minutes of the third period, wiring a wrist shot off the crossbar and in for the go-ahead goal and netting a power-play goal for the insurance marker. Between the Niskanen goals, the Islanders had a host of chances, but Braden Holtby was the difference, making four big-time stops, en route to a 26-save night.
"We knew he was going to make some saves and he made them at the right time tonight," Brock Nelson, who scored the Islanders' first goal, said.

Josh Bailey had two of the Islanders four AAA chances, but Holtby denied both, kicking out a Bailey one-timer in tight from John Tavares and getting a hold of a Bailey backhander on a nifty setup by Anders Lee.
Tavares went another route, scooping a rebound out from a crowd in front of the net, but the captain put his best chance of the game off Holtby's shoulder. Clutterbuck tried his luck with a wrister off the rush, but wasn't destined to pull out Excalibur in the third.
Nelson was one of the two Islanders to solve Holtby on Tuesday, sniping high glove side from the high slot in the first period to open the scoring. Nikolay Kulemin was the other, deflecting a Nick Leddy shot past Holtby at 10:41 of the second to tie the score 2-2.

Sandwiched between the Islanders' goals was a pair of second-period markers for the Capitals. Lars Eller's cross-crease pass deflected off Brett Connolly 2:09 into the second period, putting Washington on the board and tilting the ice in the Capitals' favor. Washington outshot the Islanders 7-0 to start the period and eventually took a 2-1 lead on Jakub Vrana's power-play goal - a one-timer on a behind-the-net setup from Evgeny Kuznetsov at 7:37.
"We went through a bit of a streak where our goaltending was good, our penalty kill was good, but you're not going to give up two power-play goals and expect to win a game," head coach Jack Capuano said.

CIZIKAS RETURNS AFTER SKATE CUT:

After getting his arm cut by a skate early in the first period in a puck battle along the boards, Casey Cizikas got stitched up and returned to the bench later in the period.
"It's not something I want to go through again," Cizikas said. "But our doctor's did a great job stitching me back up and getting me back out there as soon as possible."

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders return to action on Thursday night when they host the Chicago Blackhawks. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.