Capitals at Islanders preview

CAPITALS (36-21-7) at ISLANDERS (37-19-7)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, NBCSWA+, NHL.TV

Trotz guided the Capitals to their first Stanley Cup championship last season, but he resigned soon after and was hired by the Islanders on June 21, 2018. He would join Scotty Bowman (1,244), Joel Quenneville (890) and Ken Hitchcock (841) as the only coaches with 800 NHL wins.
New York is two points ahead of Washington for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
The Islanders are 9-0-1 in the second of back-to-back games this season; they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1 at the Coliseum on Thursday. Washington is 4-1-0 in its past five games.

Players to watch

Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has 10 points (six goals, four assists) during a seven-game point streak. He leads the NHL with 44 goals.
Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss is 5-1-1 with a 0.98 goals-against average and .968 save percentage in his past seven games.

They said it

"He'll tell you he's been around a long time, but that's him being humble and modest. He's done a lot of good things and found a way to win a lot of games. He's been collecting wins a long time. He was huge for this organization obviously." -- Capitals forward Tom Wilson on Islanders coach Barry Trotz
"I just need a win tonight." -- Islanders coach Barry Trotz on going for his 800th NHL victory

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky -- Lars Eller -- Brett Connolly
Carl Hagelin -- Nic Dowd -- Travis Boyd
Michal Kempny -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik -- Nick Jensen
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched:Dmitrij Jaskin, Chandler Stephenson, Christian Djoos
Injured:None

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- Brock Nelson -- Jordan Eberle
Anthony Beauvillier -- Mathew Barzal -- Josh Bailey
Andrew Ladd -- Valtteri Filppula -- Leo Komarov
Matt Martin -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy -- Johnny Boychuk
Adam Pelech -- Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews -- Scott Mayfield
Thomas Greiss
Robin Lehner
Scratched:Ross Johnston, Tom Kuhnhackl, Thomas Hickey, Luca Sbisa
Injured:None

Status report

Capitals coach Todd Reirden confirmed he would use the same lineup from their 7-2 win against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday. … Hickey will be scratched for a second straight game after he returned from an upper-body injury Tuesday. Boychuk is OK to play after taking a skate blade to his neck from Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner during the second period Thursday.

Stat pack

This is Washington's first trip to Nassau Coliseum since Game 6 of the Eastern Conference First Round in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. … Burakovsky has three points (one goal, two assists) during a three-game point streak. Connolly has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past five games. … The Islanders have allowed 75 fewer goals than they allowed through 63 games last season. … New York is 15-5-1 against the Metropolitan Division.