Islanders at Capitals
The Washington Capitals look to match their offensive outburst from the first matchup as they go after a sweep of the home-and-home series Friday night when the desperate New York Islanders pay a visit. Five players recorded multiple points as the Capitals pulled away for a 7-3 victory at the Islanders on Thursday to remain in a virtual tie with Pittsburgh for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Center Evgeny Kuznetsov posted three assists in the win for Washington and boasts 14 points in his last nine games while captain Alex Ovechkin notched an assist to push his team-leading total to 75 points. While the Capitals are battling for playoff position, New York is fading out of contention with just one victory in its last 10 games (1-5-4) and sits 10 points behind New Jersey for the last playoff spot with 12 games left. “We’re in a position now where we can kind of allow instincts to take over,” Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck told reporters earlier in the week. “We’ve got nothing to lose in this situation now. I think that sometime promotes a little more confident play. Sometimes, it creates results.” New York goalie Christopher Gibson was pulled Thursday after three outstanding starts, which could give veteran Jaroslav Halak the start in the second of the back-to-back.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Sportsnet, TVA, MSG Plus (New York), NBCS Washington
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (30-30-10): Rookie center Mathew Barzal registered an assist Thursday take over the team lead in points (70) - edging past captain John Tavares (69), who was kept off the scoresheet after accumulating five points in the previous four games. Power forward Anders Lee leads the team with 33 goals and needs one to match his career high that he set last season while Jordan Eberle had an assist to move within a point of 50. Defenseman Ryan Pulock had a goal and an assist Thursday to push his career-best total to 23 points.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (40-23-7): Right wing T.J. Oshie snapped a 19-game goal drought with a pair of tallies Thursday, scoring for the first time since Jan. 31, and owns 14 overall after recording a career-best 33 in 2016-17. Defenseman John Carlson also scored to set a new career high with 13 goals while center Lars Eller registered his 16th of the season to tie his previous best when he was with Montreal in 2011-12. No. 1 goalie Braden Holtby will be in net Friday after sitting out since March 6 to work on his game, following a rough February.
OVERTIME
1. New York LW Andrew Ladd snapped a 25-game goal drought with his 10th of the season Thursday.
2. Washington LW Andre Burakovsky (19 points) ended a seven-game point drought with a goal and an assist last time out.
3. The Islanders went 0-for-3 on the power play in Thursday’s game and are 2-for-25 over the last 11 contests.