Vanecek, Capitals gain in East playoff race with win against Islanders

WASHINGTON --Vitek Vanecek made 18 saves, and the Washington Capitals moved back into first place in the MassMutual East Division with a 1-0 win against the New York Islanders at Capital One Arena on Tuesday.

Daniel Sprong scored his third goal in two games for the Capitals (32-13-4), who swept the three-game set and have won seven of nine.
"We're playing well. It's a good time of year to be hitting our stride," Washington forward Tom Wilson said. "I think guys are feeling comfortable with the system. I think we were feeling comfortable with the system earlier on, but there was still a little bit of hesitancy. Now I just feel like it's a little smoother."
The Capitals, who played their second straight game without injured forward Alex Ovechkin (lower body), won 1-0 in a shootout last Thursday and 6-3 on Saturday, each at New York. They won six of eight games against the Islanders this season.
Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves for the Islanders (29-15-5), who have lost five of seven and have scored 15 goals (two in overtime) in their past nine games.
"A 1-0 loss against a very good team's not what you want," New York coach Barry Trotz said, "but it's not coming real easy right now, and a lot of that's due to a little bit on our part and a little bit on the competition as well."
Washington is one point ahead of the second-place Pittsburgh Penguins in the eight-team East; the Penguins lost 3-1 to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. The Islanders are third, one point ahead of the Bruins. The top four teams qualify for the playoffs.
Vanecek, a rookie, got his second shutout after he allowed nine goals over his previous two starts.
"It wasn't too many shots, but you try and stay focused all game and try and help the teammates [by making] a save," Vanecek said. "They helped me a lot. That's why they didn't shoot too many shots."

Sprong gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead on Washington's first shot when he skated out of the left corner and scored over Sorokin's left shoulder at 1:29 of the first period.
"They got the first goal, and I think when things aren't going well, it seems like it's harder to kind of break through and get a win," Islanders forward Matt Martin said. "There are certainly areas that we need to be a lot better, but we know that we're a good hockey team. We've overcome adversity in the past multiple times, and we have confidence that we're going to do it again."
Sorokin made his second straight start after Semyon Varlamov was scratched. Cory Schneider was Sorokin's backup.
"[Varlamov] skated today," Trotz said. "A little bit of soreness, so we kept him out, but I don't see that being a problem going forward at all."
Washington played in front of fans at home for the first time this season (2,133).
"It was awesome," Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. "Just the life in the building. We appreciate the cut-out human beings for 40-plus games, but to actually have some live ones in there that move around and they yell and they're fired up and they get up and give an ovation if things are going well, those carboard people just don't do that."
NOTES: Sprong, in the lineup because of Ovechkin's injury, has scored the game-winning goal in back-to-back games. … Washington is 5-0-1 without Ovechkin this season; he missed three games in January while on the NHL COVID-19 protocol list. He leads the Capitals with 24 goals. … The Islanders were 0-for-3 on the power play; Washington was 0-for-2. … The 18 shots were the fewest the Capitals allowed in a game this season. … Vanecek leads NHL rookie goalies with 18 wins.