Islanders at Capitals
After losing their season opener to one heated Metropolitan Division rival, the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals have a chance to atone at the other's expense on Saturday at the Verizon Center. The Islanders swept the cross-town New York Rangers in 2015-16 before falling 5-3 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday while last season's Presidents' Trophy-winning Capitals got off on the wrong foot with a 3-2 shootout loss to reigning Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh.
While the teams were slow out of the blocks, Andre Burakovsky is well ahead of last season's pace as his two goals on Wednesday matched his sum total of his initial 32 games. Burakovsky credited the play of fellow Swedish countrymen Nicklas Backstrom (two assists) and Marcus Johansson (one assist) on what was dubbed the "Tre Kronor line" by coach Barry Trotz. "We all three are thinking the same way," Burakovsky told Monumental Sports Network. "Me and Jojo have a lot of speed on the outside, and Nicky is probably the smartest player in the league. I think we have a lot of chemistry together and you will see a lot from it." The Capitals posted a 3-0-1 mark in the 2015-16 season series and are 9-1-3 in their last 13 versus the Islanders, who received a big contribution from the fourth-line members Cal Clutterbuck (goal) and Casey Cizikas (two assists) in their opener.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus (New York), CSN-DC (Washington)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (0-1-0): Jaroslav Halak yielded four goals on 38 shots on Thursday and could acquiesce to Thomas Greiss on Saturday rather than face his former team, against which he owns a 6-6-0 mark with a 2.73 goals-against average. Halak would then face Anaheim the following night. Coach Jack Capuano clearly wasn't pleased with his team mishandling the puck over the first two periods in the opener and shuffled a pair of lines during Friday's practice. Capuano placed first-round pick Mathew Barzal, 19, with Anders Lee and Ryan Strome and moved Shane Prince to the left wing with Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (0-0-1): Captain Alex Ovechkin traditionally has tormented New York, scoring six goals in the four meetings last season and collecting 47 points (32 goals, 15 assists) in 41 career encounters. The three-time Hart Trophy recipient has recorded eight multi-goal performances and nine game-winning tallies versus the Islanders. Fellow forward T.J. Oshie scored two goals and set up four others against New York last season while Vezina Trophy winner Braden Holtby is 10-1-3 record with a 2.21 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage in 14 career games versus the Islanders.
OVERTIME
1. The Capitals (20-5-5) and Islanders (18-8-4) combined to go 38-13-9 against the Metropolitan Division in 2015-16.
2. Eleven of the last 20 meetings between the teams have ventured past regulation.
3. New York LW Jason Chimera returns to the Verizon Center, a place he called his NHL home for parts of seven seasons.