3 Takeaways: Islanders Fall 3-2 in OT to Capitals 

The New York Islanders fought for a point, but came up short in their quest for a second one, falling 3-2 in overtime to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night at Capital One Arena.

Dylan Strome’s power play goal at 1:41 of overtime was the difference maker in the contest. Hudson Fasching and Anders Lee scored for the Islanders to force overtime, while Hendrix Lapierre (1G, 1A) and Joel Edmundson put up goals for the Capitals in regulation. Semyon Varlamov made 33 saves in the overtime loss.

“We got better as the game went on, but our start wasn’t good enough,” Head Coach Lane Lambert said. “We have to fix that in these back-to-back situations. We stuck with it and found a way to tie the game up. We got another good goaltending performance like we usually do every night.”

The Islanders' red-hot power play cooled off, going 0-for-3 against the Capitals after they went 4-for-9 on the man advantage in their last three games coming into Wednesday.

Though the Islanders (39 points) picked up a valuable point, they allowed their Metropolitan Division foes to gain two, as the Capitals rose to fifth in the division with 36 points. The Capitals chase the Islanders by three points and have three games in-hand.

ISLES START SLOW IN SECOND HALF OF BACK-TO-BACK

The second half of back-to-back sets have been a challenge for the Islanders this season, who dropped 0-2-3 on the second night. Like Saturday’s slow start in a 5-3 loss to Montreal, it took a while to find their legs against Washington , falling behind in shots 9-0 midway through the opening frame and were out-attempted 27-11 after 20 minutes

“They’re a tough team defensively,” Hudson Fasching said. “They had the ability to pin us in our own end and we ran into that in the first couple periods.”

Hendrix Lapierre, the Capitals’ 2020 first rounder who was recalled on Tuesday, got the scoring started for Washington. The 21-year-old center found open ice in the slot to bury a Aliaksei Protas feed at 9:56 of the first period after an Islanders defensive zone turnover.

The Islanders showed some life in the beginning of the second period as Fasching scored the Islanders’ first wraparound goal of the season to tie the game at one apiece.

Washington eventually re-took the lead, as Joel Edmundson's shot from the point beat Varlamov through traffic gave the Capitals a 2-1 advantage at the 13:12 mark of the second period.

“To start the game, we’d like to have a better start,” Anders Lee said. “Sometimes you go out there with a good mindset and it just doesn’t happen. Just a little bit on our execution and the [Capitals] doing a good job, but the onus is on us.”

ISLES BATTLE BACK FOR POINT IN THIRD PERIOD:

After being outshot 26-16 in the first two periods, the Islanders got to their game and found some grit in the third period, outshooting the Capitals 17-5 and potting a goal to force overtime.

Down 2-1 with eight minutes to play, Lee took a pass from Mathew Barzal and drove to the net, beating Darcy Kuemper with a backhand to tie the game at two apiece.

“I thought we did a wonderful job of sticking with it and grinding it out,” Lee said. “We got the game to overtime and gave ourselves a chance to win, but they played a solid game.”

Lee’s tally created a two-game goal streak for the captain and marked his fourth goal in seven games.

Varlamov came up in big moments in the third period to allow the Isles to get to OT, including a blocker save on a partial breakaway for Anthony Mantha and making a save on Alex Ovechkin with the knob of his stick, extending his career-long goal drought to 14 games.

In overtime – the Isles league-leading 13^th game past regulation – Noah Dobson went off for tripping, creating a four-on-three kill for the Islanders. Dylan Strome capitalized on the opportunity, firing a shot through Varlamov in the high slot to win the game for Washington, extending his point streak to five games, but Lambert was still satisfied with his team’s effort to earn the extra point.

“Unfortunately, we took a penalty in overtime, but I think we can walk out of here knowing we came on at the end,” Lambert said.

WAHLSTROM IN, GAUTHIER OUT:

Oliver Wahlstrom played for the first time since Dec. 2, making some noticeable plays to contribute to the Isles comeback bid.

“He made a couple of strong plays,” Lambert said of Wahlstrom. “He made a great play in the third period, winning a battle along the wall and setting up scoring opportunities. I thought he went up and down, he did what he was supposed to do.”

Wahlstrom drew into the lineup against the Capitals in place of Julien Gauthier (day to day, upper-body). The winger skated 11:39, recording one hit and one shot on goal.

The Islanders did have an injury scare with Cal Clutterbuck missing the majority of the second period, but he returned at the end of the frame and finished out the game.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders will continue their five-game stretch of divisional opponents with a matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday at PNC Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.