3 Takeaways: Islanders Shut Out by Capitals 2-0

The New York Islanders three-game winning streak came to a close on Saturday, as the Isles fell 2-0 to the Washington Capitals at UBS Arena.
Tom Wilson's goal at 4:35 of the first period held up as the game-winner, as the Islanders were shut out by their opponent for the fourth time in 30 games this season. Alex Ovechkin iced the game with an empty-netter with 10.2 seconds to play.

Semyon Varlamov stopped 34 of 35 in the loss, while Vitek Vanecek made 23 saves for his third-career shutout. In addition to having their winning streak snapped, Saturday's loss was also the Islanders first regulation home defeat in seven contests (5-1-1).
"We sit up here and talk about it, we're in a hole. We've got to dig ourselves out," Scott Mayfield said. "It's tough. We've got to get those points, we've got to start racking up wins, racking up points. We didn't today."

VARLAMOV SOLID IN LOSS:

Semyon Varlamov's two-game winning streak came to an end on Saturday, but the Islanders netminder turned in a solid effort on the afternoon.
Varlamov stopped 34-of-35 shots, marking his third-straight game of allowing one goal.
The 33-year-old was sharp early, stopping 15-of-16 in Washington's first period blitz. After allowing Wilson's opening goal, Varlamov came up with a blocker save on a Nick Jensen slapper on the next shift. He was alert enough to stop a Garnet Hathaway deflection after being knocked over by the Capitals forward.
Varlamov also came up with three saves on a Capitals power play in the first period and shut the door through the final 40 minutes to keep his team in striking distance.
After a slow start to the season, partially attributed to missing training camp with a nagging injury, Varlamov looks like his usual self, which will be key with the Islanders condensed schedule through the end of the year - beginning with two back-to-backs in the next week.
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"I felt good today," Varlamov said. "I gave up a goal in the first period, but after that, I made some saves and got the confidence back. Overall, I thought I played a decent game today. I thought our team played well today. We just didn't score."

ISLES UNABLE TO SOLVE VANECEK:

As good as Varlamov was on Saturday, he was equaled by Vanecek, who didn't see the same volume of shots, but stymied the Islanders on their high-danger opportunities.
After a slow start in the first period - that saw the Isles outshot 14-4 - the Islanders had their chances. Noah Dobson clanked a shot off the post in the first period, while Anthony Beauvillier narrowly missed on a clapper off the rush. The Islanders' power play made one extra pass on a quality look in the second period, while Oliver Wahlstrom dangled his way to the front of the net in the third.
Wahlstrom had another good chance during a net-front flurry in the dying minutes, as the Isles staged their biggest push. The Capitals finished the game with 11 blocked shots, including a big block from Garnet Hathaway in the final 90 seconds on an Isles point shot.
"We need to make sure we get our shots through when we do have looks," Mayfield said. "They block shots. You saw it there at the end. They get in the way. Their d-men front them. Just getting those through. Just moving the puck up, getting the puck out of our zone. We just need to be better."
The Islanders' power play had their looks, but went 0-for-3 on the game with seven shots. The 0-for-3 outing ended the Isles streak of five games with a power-play goal.

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EXECUTION HURTS ISLES IN LOSS:

While the Islanders managed to only allow one goal - minus the empty-netter - to a high-octane Capitals team, the Isles felt their game was out of sync through the first two periods.
The Islanders were credited with 15 giveaways, the sixth time they'd hit that mark all season, and had trouble at times getting through the neutral zone against an aggressive and tight-checking Caps team.
"I was disappointed with the result and a little disappointed with our execution," Associate Coach Lane Lambert said. "I didn't think we made a lot of plays, and weren't handling the puck the way we could, should, or normally would."
Washington's first goal was the product of a miscommunication in the Islanders zone, as three players converged on Aliaksei Protas, leaving Wilson open in the slot. Wilson beat Varlamov stick side at 4:35.
Still, despite some looser-than-usual play through 40 minutes, the Islanders were still within striking distance heading into the third period, where their execution was much sharper.
"I don't think it was our best game overall," Isles Captain Anders Lee said. "The third period is where they put the pressure on pretty good, but at the end of the day it's a one-goal game, Varly gave us a great chance and a great opportunity and we come up short at the end. We understand we could have played a lot better early on, but we played good enough to have a chance at the end."

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders kick off a home-and-home, back-to-back set with the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night at UBS Arena. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.