Capitals rally to defeat Islanders, tie for division lead in points

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Alex Ovechkin's 45th goal of the season broke a tie with 15:26 remaining in the third period, and the Washington Capitals rallied for a 3-1 win against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum on Friday.

Ovechkin capitalized on a power play 13 seconds after Anders Lee was whistled for interference. He batted Thomas Greiss' attempted poke check out of midair, and the puck went off Johnny Boychuk's stick and over Greiss to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead.
It's the 10th time Ovechkin has scored 45 goals, passing Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy for the most in NHL history.
WATCH: [All Capitals vs. Islanders highlights]
"His ability to score goals, create offense is something that I have never seen before," Washington forward T.J. Oshie said of Ovechkin. "There are greats in the League, but none that I have seen that are such a natural prolific goal scorer. He does a lot of the heavy lifting for us. It goes to show how special of a player he is."
Jakub Vrana tied the game 1:08 prior to Ovechkin's goal, and Braden Holtby made 20 saves for Washington (37-21-7), which has won five of its past six games and is again tied in points with New York for first place in the Metropolitan Division. The Islanders have a game in hand.
"It was an extremely competitive game," Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. "I thought the intensity level was at a high. We didn't have success to start the game, but we stayed the course. We didn't change how we played. We continued to play the same way the rest of the game until we were rewarded.
"That's a big step in the overall growth of our game, to not start to cheat for offense or any of those things. We spent a ton of time in the offensive zone and carried a lot of the play. Eventually we earned a power play and were able to capitalize on some chances."
Oshie was credited with an empty-net goal at 18:32 of the third period when Islanders forward Josh Bailey accidentally put the puck in his own goal from just outside the defensive zone.
"It's on me, obviously," Bailey said. "Obviously, I was trying to give it over to (Brock Nelson). I just put it a little too hard. I've got to be better in that situation. When the game's on the line and the goalie's pulled, you've got to be sharp. That wasn't the case there."
Tom Kuhnhackl scored for the Islanders (37-20-7), who failed to deliver coach Barry Trotz his 800th NHL win. Greiss made 26 saves.

It was the first time New York lost in regulation in the second half of a back-to-back (9-1-1); the Islanders defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1 on Thursday.
"We were ready to go and we played a good game, I think," New York captain Anders Lee said. "Obviously my penalty and that power-play goal by them changed things around, and we're chasing. Obviously they're good at playing defense."
Kuhnhackl gave New York a 1-0 lead 2:43 into the game when he intercepted Dmitry Orlov's pass in the neutral zone, skated in alone and scored on a backhand shot for his first goal since Nov. 13.
But Vrana tied it 3:26 into the third when Michal Kempny's attempted pass near the left goal post bounced right in front to Vrana, where he quickly put it past Greiss for his 19th goal of the season to make it 1-1.

"That's the plan; you have to wear the other team down," Vrana said. "We were just playing hard. We had a game plan, and we stuck with that all 60 minutes."
Holtby preserved the lead with a pad save on Anthony Beauvillier's shot from point-blank range at 8:09 of the third period.
"You look at the last two goals, we put them in our net," Trotz said. "Sometimes, that happens. We hit two crossbars. You understand how heavy the game was going to be, and you have to battle for your inches and you have to stay composed. They found a way."

They said it

"We kind of felt going in that this was going to have a little bit of a playoff feel; two teams playing similar styles, not giving up a lot. They're on a back-to-back, but we didn't really let up. They got their chances and made some mistakes with the puck, some bad reads, but [Holtby] was there to slam the door 99 percent of the time. We just kept pushing and found a way to get the win." -- Capitals forward T.J. Oshie
"It's hard to match the night before; that's just the way it is. But we were up, we were ready to go. We put ourselves in a position to win, and things got away from us." -- Islanders captain Anders Lee

Need to know

The Capitals opened a three-game trip and a stretch that has them play seven of nine on the road. … The Islanders announced before the game left wing Matt Martin has an upper-body injury and is day to day. Left wing Andrew Ladd was a healthy scratch but is expected to play against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.

What's next

Capitals: At the New York Rangers on Sunday (12:30 p.m. ET; NBC, TVAS)
Islanders: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday (Nassau Coliseum; 3 p.m. ET; SN1, TVAS, MSG+, NBCSP, NHL.TV)