Sorokin makes 22 saves, Islanders edge Capitals to end 3-game skid

WASHINGTON -- Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves for the New York Islanders, who ended a three-game losing streak with a 3-1 win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Friday.

Bo Horvat and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also scored for the Islanders (5-5-1), who lost 6-2 at the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. Sorokin made 13 saves in the first period.

“First of all, Ilya was phenomenal tonight being able to keep us in it like he did,” Horvat said. “Without him in that first period, obviously, we’re not standing here happy about the game. So, it was phenomenal by him giving us some time to get our legs under us in a tough back-to-back.”

Calum Ritchie took two penalties in 16:17 of ice time in his Islanders debut. The 20-year-old forward was acquired from the Colorado Avalanche in a trade involving Brock Nelson in March.

Tom Wilson scored for the Capitals (6-5-0), who have scored two goals while losing their past three. Logan Thompson made 20 saves.

“The whole course of these losses is frustrating for sure,” Capitals forward Aliaksei Protas said. “We’re having a tough time finding offense. We’ll find it. We believe we’re a good team. We’re staying together.”

Alex Ovechkin remains one goal away from becoming the first player to reach 900 in the NHL.

The Capitals lost center Pierre-Luc Dubois to a lower-body injury at 18:50 of a scoreless first period and were already without center Dylan Strome.

“We lost Dubois … and it felt like after that we just couldn’t find anything,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “There were a couple of spurts and a few stretches but not nearly enough. We weren’t able to get back to our game with the line combinations we were throwing out.”

Wilson gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 4:48 of the second period. Jakob Chychrun’s shot from along the left boards deflected off Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield and across to Wilson, who shot into the open net from the right circle.

Pageau tied it 1-1 at 14:58, scoring a short-handed goal when he got behind the defense and chipped a centering pass from Simon Holmstrom past Lindgren. The Capitals challenged the play for being offside, but the goal was upheld after a video review.

“That goal was all him,” Pageau said of Holmstrom. “He gave me the chance to get a stick on it. He made a perfect pass. We want to keep building on that. The PK was huge today. It’s a big difference in a tight game and today it made a big difference.”

Washington was 0-for-4 on the power play and is 0-for-9 over its past three games.

“It’s not good enough,” Wilson, a member of the first power-play unit, said. “We’ve got to fix it quickly. It’s costing us games. We’ll be better. The guys that go on the ice have to be better and find a way to put the puck in the back of the net.”

Horvat put the Islanders ahead 2-1 at 4:29 of the third period when he received a pass from Emil Heineman on a 2-on-1 rush and beat Thompson with a snap shot from the left face-off dot.

Mathew Barzal scored into an empty net with 1:16 remaining for the 3-1 final.

“In the second and the third, I thought we started playing better hockey,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “We cut down on shots against, chances against and we started generating more offense as well. So, I thought it was a great team effort. Everybody played really well and it was important for us to find a way to win that game.

NOTES: Carbery said Dubois will be reevaluated Saturday. … Wilson (12 points; six goals, six assists) has registered at least one point in eight of Washington’s 11 games this season. … Pageau scored his 22nd career short-handed goal to pass Jordan Staal (21) for the second-most among active players. The list is topped by Brad Marchand (36). … Horvat has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in his past eight games.