Islanders at Capitals preview

ISLANDERS (27-15-4) at CAPITALS (27-14-5)
7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SN1, SNE, NBCSWA, MSG+, NHL.TV

Trotz resigned on June 18, 11 days after the Capitals won the Cup, and was hired by the Islanders three days later. He has his new team on a 13-3-0 run that has moved them within one point of the Capitals and Blue Jackets, who are even in points for first place in the Metropolitan Division. Trotz was 205-89-34 in four seasons with the Capitals.
Starting goalie Braden Holtby will return for Washington. Holtby hasn't played since he was poked in the eye by the stick of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson during the second period of a 2-1 overtime loss Saturday.
New York is on a three-game winning streak, including a 4-1 victory against the New Jersey Devils at Nassau Coliseum on Thursday. Washington is 0-2-1 in its past three games, matching its longest losing streak of the season.

Players to watch

Islanders goalie Robin Lehner is 10-1-0 with a 1.42 goals-against average, .950 save percentage and one shutout in his past 11 games (10 starts).
Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has three goals and two assists during a four-game point streak. His next goal will move him past Dave Andreychuk (640) for sole possession of 14th place on the NHL's all-time list.

They said it

"I'll cry watching 'The Notebook' on TV when it's on … an emotional type guy. I think I'll be OK, but I appreciate the organization, the players, the fans and all the support people around the game." -- Islanders coach Barry Trotz on his return to Washington
"He showed how much he cared about each individual player and their success, and how much he cared about us being a team, not just being on the same team, but really bonding, being a team." -- Capitals forward T.J. Oshie on Trotz

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- Brock Nelson -- Jordan Eberle
Anthony Beauvillier -- Mathew Barzal -- Josh Bailey
Michael Dal Colle
-- Valtteri Filppula -- Leo Komarov
Matt Martin -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy -- Johnny Boychuk
Adam Pelech -- Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews -- Scott Mayfield
Robin Lehner
Thomas Greiss
Scratched:Ross Johnston, Luca Sbisa, Tom Kuhnhackl
Injured:Thomas Hickey (upper body), Andrew Ladd (lower body)

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky -- Lars Eller -- Brett Connolly
Chandler Stephenson -- Nic Dowd -- Devante Smith-Pelly
Michal Kempny -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik -- Jonas Siegenthaler
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched:Travis Boyd, Madison Bowey, Dmitrij Jaskin
Injured:Christian Djoos (thigh)

Status report

The Islanders did not hold a morning skate.

Stat pack

New York is 6-0-0 in the second game of back-to-backs. Barzal has 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) in his past 13 games. … Ovechkin needs five points to tie Sergei Fedorov (1,179) for the highest-scoring Russia-born player in NHL history.