Islanders at Capitals
After lighting up their opponents throughout the majority of the season, the Washington Capitals have struggled to ignite much of a spark in the last six games (3-2-1). The Presidents' Trophy-winning Capitals look to light a fire under their ailing offense on Tuesday when they host the Metropolitan Division-rival New York Islanders.
"There's some luck in it, but I don't think we can really count on that or blame it on that," forward T.J. Oshie told the Washington Post on Monday of the team being limited to just four 5-on-5 goals in the past six outings. "It just comes down to guys bearing down and scoring goals. ... Maybe a little bit of a dry spell here 5-on-5, but not too worried about it. I think it's going to pick up pretty quick here." While Washington was blanked for the third time in regulation in its last six, New York has won four of five to reduce its magic number to two points to clinch its third consecutive postseason appearance. Captain John Tavares raised his point total to eight in his last seven games by collecting one goal and two assists in the Islanders' 5-2 victory over Tampa Bay on Monday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus2 (New York), CSMA (Washington)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (43-26-9): With Jean-Francois Berube considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury, Thomas Greiss could receive back-to-back starts in as many days for the third time this season. The 30-year-old German posted a 1-0-1 mark in that setting, but he also holds a 1-0-1 career mark versus Washington after his 32-save performance came in a 3-2 overtime setback on Feb. 18. Kyle Okposo had an assist in that contest and notched a pair versus the Lightning on Monday.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (55-17-6): Braden Holtby can match Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur's NHL record of 48 wins in a season should he continue his dominance over the Islanders. A front-runner for the Vezina Trophy, Holtby has stopped 78 of 83 shots en route to winning all three outings with New York in 2015-16 and improving to 10-1-2 in his regular-season career versus the club. "Your goal as an athlete, as a member of a team sport, is to help the team in any way possible," the 26-year-old Holtby said. "Obviously statistics is one thing that you want to make sure are up. The main thing is you're not looking like a weak link on a team and creating a distraction that way. But the biggest thing is just creating a win somehow - making the saves at the right times."
OVERTIME
1. Washington captain Alex Ovechkin scored a goal in a 3-2 win over New York on Feb. 4 and had two more two weeks later in a 3-2 overtime victory versus the Islanders.
2. New York has scored a power-play goal in three of its last four outings after a 1-for-18 stretch in its previous 10 games.
3. The Capitals are just 1-for-9 with the man advantage against the Islanders this season.