Islanders top Capitals in shootout, add to wild card lead

WASHINGTON -- The New York Islanders increased their lead in the Eastern Conference wild card race with a 2-1 shootout win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Wednesday.

Pierre Engvall scored for a second straight game, and Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves, including four in overtime, for the Islanders (39-28-9), who won in the shootout for the first time this season (1-5).
"I think they did what we did to them," Engvall said. "We stayed above and didn't give them many chances. They took after us and did the same thing. It wasn't easy creating scoring chances, but we got the points and it feels good."
New York moved five points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the East.
"I just think that certainly guys know what the standings are," Islanders coach Lane Lambert said, "but again I know our team and I know what our focus is, and our focus is now [Saturday at] Tampa [Bay]. So, we just have to take care of each game individually and then we'll see where it goes from there."

Conor Sheary scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves for the Capitals (34-32-9), who have lost five of six (1-3-2) and are five points behind the Penguins for the second wild card, having played one more game.
"It's tough that we lost a point," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. "A point's a big thing right now. It's frustrating. It was tight out there. We knew it was going to be that way. We expected this type of game, low scoring, not a lot of shots, not a lot of chances."
New York outshot Washington 15-5 in the third period.
In overtime, Sorokin stopped Alex Ovechkin's backhand in front with 2:12 remaining, and Kuemper made a save on Noah Dobson's wrist shot from the slot with 1:57 left.
"We didn't give up a ton of chances and when we did, [Kuemper] came up big for us," Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk said. "I thought we did some good things and had some chances, but both goalies played well. Unfortunately, it came down to a shootout and you never know with those."

Engvall gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 3:52 of the second period, taking a pass from Brock Nelson on the rush and scoring to the short side with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle.
Sheary tied it 1-1 at 6:22, controlling a loose puck in the slot and lifting a backhand past Sorokin that went in off the left post for his third goal in four games.
"The puck just came to me in the slot, I had a little bit of room," Sheary said. "Kind of thought I could catch him by surprise with the backhand and maybe sliding one way. I don't really score on my backhand too often, but I got him on that one."
Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri scored for the Islanders in the shootout. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for the Capitals.
"It definitely felt good to [have it] go in," Horvat said. "I had a couple looks there in overtime that I wish would've went in, but I ended up getting back there in the shootout."

NOTES: Sorokin is 8-1-1 in March. … Nelson (assist) has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past seven games. … New York center Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 13 of 17 face-offs (76.5 percent). … Sheary has a four-game point streak (four points; three goals, one assist), one shy of his NHL career high. … Ovechkin had a seven-game point streak (11 points; six goals, five assists) end. … Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom won 10 of 15 face-offs (66.7 percent).