Capitals 3, Islanders 2 (OT)
NEW YORK -- Right winger Justin Williams scored with 43.2 seconds left in overtime Thursday night to lift the Washington Capitals to a 3-2 win over the New York Islanders at Barclays Center.
Left winger Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 36th and 37th goals in a span of 87 seconds early in the second period for the Capitals (42-10-4), who moved seven points ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks in the race for the Presidents' Trophy.
Goalie Braden Holtby recorded 20 saves for the Capitals, who have won two straight and seven of eight (7-1-0).
Center John Tavares scored in the first period while center Frans Nielsen forced overtime by scoring with 1:44 left in the third for the Islanders, who are one point point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the race for third place in the Metropolitan Division and two points ahead of the East's second wild-card position, currently held by the New Jersey Devils.
New York (30-19-7) begins a seven-game road trip -- tied for the longest in franchise history -- Friday night in New Jersey.
Goalie Thomas Greiss made 32 saves as the Islanders fell for the second time in three games (1-1-1).
As in the first meeting of the season between the teams at Barclays Center, the matchup of regional rivals appeared to carry with it residual bitterness from last spring's Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, which the Capitals won in seven games.
Early in the second period, Capitals right winger Tom Wilson and normally mild-mannered Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey each served two minutes after a pushing-and-shoving match. In Game 4 back in April, a hard hit delivered along the boards by Wilson knocked then-Islanders defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky out for the playoffs.
Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic and Williams were each penalized for slashing the other with 2:23 remaining in the period.
Tavares began and ended a coast-to-coast rush that gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead with 4:19 left in the first. After winning a battle for the puck along the left boards with Williams, Tavares dished to defenseman Nick Leddy and sprinted ahead. Leddy's pass hit Tavares in stride and the New York captain eluded defenseman Nate Schmidt by switching from a backhand to a forehand before poking a shot between Holtby's legs.
The Capitals tied the score and took the lead on a pair of Ovechkin goals in the first 2:52 of the second.
Williams and Leddy were fighting for the puck to the right of the Islanders net when center Evgeny Kuznetsov swooped in, grabbed it, whirled around and passed to Ovechkin, who was standing alone to the right of the net with Greiss leaning to the left.
The Capitals took the lead when Ovechkin fielded a no-look stick pass from center Nicklas Backstrom and fired a shot through several players in front of Greiss.
NOTES: The Islanders scratched D Calvin De Haan, RW Steve Bernier and G Jean-Francois Berube. De Haan is day to day with a lower body injury suffered in Monday's 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. ... The Islanders' upcoming road trip is the fifth seven-game trek in franchise history. They will go 18 days between home games, a stretch matched only by a seven-game trip in 1981-82. ... The Capitals scratched D Taylor Chorney and RW Stanislav Galiev. ... With 86 points in the first 55 games, the Capitals entered Thursday six points ahead of the pace they set in 2009-10 when they finished with a team-record 121 points.