Recap: Capitals 6, Islanders 3

The New York Islanders dropped the second half of their home-and-home set with the Washington Capitals on Friday night, falling 6-3 at Capital One Arena.
The loss was the Islanders' second in as many nights to the Capitals in what was a penalty-fueled affair that featured three power-play goals for each side. Three of Washington's first four goals came on the man advantage.

"You can't sit in the box against that team," Head Coach Doug Weight said. "The guys battled physically, they worked hard."

The Islanders did answer with three power-play goals of their own. The wave of penalties spoke to the chippy nature of the game as bad blood lingered from Thursday's affair in Brooklyn and boiled over at several points Friday. Ross Johnston and Tom Wilson dropped the gloves to settle a beef, though that didn't diffuse the tension for the rest of the game.
"I have a lot of respect for Ross and what he does out there," Cizikas said. "Wilson's a tough guy and for him to stand up like that takes a lot."
TJ Oshie and Mathew Barzal had the Islanders and Capitals in a 1-1 at the time of the Johnston-Wilson fight, but Washington scored four unanswered goals to break the deadlock. Nick Backstrom (1G, 1A) converted on a two-man advantage to make it 2-1 at 7:12. Matt Niskanen's short-side snipe made it 3-1 late in the second and Alex Chiasson's tap-in made it 4-1 early in the third. Chiasson's goal was unsuccessfully challenged by the Islanders arguing that Jakub Vrana bumped into Jaroslav Halak (25 saves), but the goal stood and Vrana added one of his own to make it 5-1 midway through the third.

That could have been it, but the Islanders clawed their way back into the game. Brock Nelson buried his 17th of the season to make it 5-2 and John Tavares teased the potential of a comeback with his 32nd of the campaign.
Barzal nearly made it 5-4, but his five-hole try was thwarted by Braden Holtby (22 saves) with just over three minutes to play. Lars Eller sealed it with a long-range empty netter.
"We're just trying to play hard, obviously it's been a rough go for a few weeks here," Tavares said. "We're just making a few too many mistakes. I know the commitment is there, the work ethic is there, it's just frustrating when we're not able to put it all together."

CLUTTERBUCK MISSES THIRD PERIOD:

Cal Clutterbuck missed the third period of Friday's game with an undisclosed injury and did not return.

LINE CHANGES:

Doug Weight broke up his top line on Friday, playing Anthony Beauvillier on John Tavares' left wing, while playing Anders Lee with Brock Nelson and Tanner Fritz.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders return home to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday evening. Puck drop is at 5 p.m.