Game Preview: Islanders vs. Capitals

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (29-13-5) VS WASHINGTON CAPITALS (30-13-4)
7PM | NASSAU COLISEUM
WATCH: MSG+ | MSG GO | NHL.TV
LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | 1050AM
As expected, Thursday's battle between two of the top East Division contenders - the New York Islanders and the Washington Capitals - was just that, a battle.
Neither 60 minutes of regulation nor five minutes of overtime was enough to determine a winner, so the game was decided in a shootout where the Capitals earned the extra point with the game-deciding goal coming from Evgeny Kuznetsov in the third round. Anthony Beauvillier scored the Islanders lone shootout goal, while Nicklas Backstrom also beat Semyon Varlamov in the second round. Both Varlamov (28 saves) and Washington's Ilya Samsonov (26 saves) recorded shutouts in the 1-0 affair.

The tight-checking, hard-hitting contest was the sixth meeting this season between the Islanders and Caps and kicked off a set of three-straight meetings. With the extra point, Washington cushioned its first-place lead in the East Division (64 points), while the Islanders dropped down to third place (63 points) as Pittsburgh (63 points) jumped up to second place and hold the ROW tiebreaker.
"Anytime you play the Washington Capitals, especially us, it's a playoff game," Nick Leddy said. "They're fun games to be a part of. They're exciting. Both teams took quite a few chances, but both goalies were amazing...it's going to be a tight game every time we play them. They're a good team, they can play that tight defense like we can. They can open it up and play track meets. They've got a lot of high-end skill. They're a good team, but so are we."

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves for his fifth shutout of the season - matching a career high he set in 2014-15 - tying Colorado's Philipp Grubauer and Vegas' Marc-Andre Fleury for the NHL lead. Varlamov currently owns a record of 17-9-4 through 30 starts this season, has a 2.12 GAA and a .926 SV%.
ISLANDERS VS CAPITALS
ISLANDERS ARTICLES
5 Takeaways: Islanders 0, Capitals 1 SO
Prospect Report: April 19, 2021
The Bridgeport Report: April 21, 2021
ISLANDERS VIDEO
Trotz Pregame: Coming Soon
Player Pregame: Coming Soon
GAME EXTRAS
Arena Safety FAQ
Fan Cutout Gallery
Hockey With a Heart
• Following Tuesday's 6-1 win over the New York Rangers and the scoreless regulation game against Washington on Thursday, the Islanders have not allowed a goal in 93:56 and they have not scored in 73:38.
• Cal Clutterbuck rejoined the lineup after missing three-straight games with an undisclosed injury. The veteran winger assumed his usual spot alongside Matt Martin and Casey Cizikas as Travis Zajac was scratched. Clutterbuck played 13:02 TOI, including 3:00 shorthanded.
• The Islanders went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill against Washington's power play (26.9%), which was ranked first overall in the NHL on Thursday, but has since dropped to second. The Islanders have killed 23 of the last 24 opponent power plays and their PK unit has jumped up to eighth-best in the NHL at 82.9%.
• The Islanders went 0-for-2 on the power play, which ranks 26th in the NHL at 17.2%.
• The Islanders have only three regulation wins in the last 15 games.
• While the Islanders didn't get the full two points, they still maintained their dominant home-ice record. The team has earned points in 22 of their first 24 home games (19-2-3), as their best home record through 24 games in the Post-Cup Era.

CAPITALS NOTES:

• Samsonov earned his second shutout of the season as his record improved to 12-3-1. The 24-year-old Russian owns a 2.65 GAA and a .904 SV%.
• Michael Raffl, who the Capitals acquired at the trade deadline from Philadelphia, made his debut for the club as he played alongside Conor Sheary and Lars Eller.
• Zdeno Chara returned to the lineup after missing his first game of the season against Boston earlier in the week. While Chara's return boosted Washington's blueline, the Capitals were without Justin Schultz on D, who sustained a lower-body injury against Boston on Sunday.
• Washington captain Alexander Ovechkin did not take a shift in the final two-and-a-half minutes of overtime. Capitals Head Coach Peter Laviolette noted that he was "unavailable." Ovechkin is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
• Washington's power play went 0-for-3, while their penalty kill went 2-for-2. The Caps PK is ranked seventh in the NHL at 83.7%.
• With the scoreless game, a handful of Caps players had their respective point streaks come to an end. Newly acquired forward Anthony Mantha had scored in five-straight games, dating back to his last game with the Detroit Red Wings, defenseman Dmitry Orlov had been riding a five-game point streak, T.J. Oshie had recorded points in six of his last seven games and Backstrom had had points in four of his last five.