Wilson leads Capitals to sixth straight victory
Tom Wilson scored twice, Braden Holtby stopped 32 shots and the Washington Capitals beat the New York Islanders and former coach Barry Trotz 4-1 Monday night in New York for their seasonhigh sixth straight win.
Nic Dowd and Alex Ovechkin also scored for Washington, which won after giving up the first goal for the fifth time during its win streak that has catapulted the defending champions to first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Valtteri Filppula scored and Thomas Greiss finished with 20 saves for the Islanders, who lost for the third time in five games.
Trotz was facing the Capitals for first time since leading them to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title in June. Trotz also guided Washington to the Presidents’ Trophy for the league’s best record in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and then resigned in a contract dispute and subsequently signed with Islanders.
Todd Rierden — who was on Trotz’s staff during his four years in Washington, including the last two as associated head coach — then took over.
Trotz, assistant coach Lane Lambert and goalie coach Mitch Korn, received their championship rings in the Capitals’ dressing room before the game.
Leading 2-1, Washington had a twoman advantage for 1½ minutes. After several attempts were stopped during the 5-on-3, Wilson beat Greiss in front about 15 seconds after the Islanders’ first penalty expired for a powerplay goal to push the Capitals’ lead to 3-1 with 5:39 left. Wilson, who has scored in four straight games, now has six goals and five assists in eight games since returning from a season-opening suspension that sidelined him for 16 games.
PANTHERS 4, DEVILS 3, OT: Mike Hoffman scored 1:28 into overtime to lift Florida over New Jersey. With their goalie pulled for an extra skater, the Panthers tied it 3-all on Jonathan Huberdeau’s 100th career goal with 1:29 left in the third period. Huberdeau also had two assists. RANGERS 4, SENATORS 2: Marc Staal, Lias Andersson, Chris Kreider, and Mika Zibanejad scored, and Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves as New York defeated Ottawa. MAPLE LEAFS 4, BRUINS 2: Boston’s David Pastrnak scored his 18th and 19th goals of the season, but four Toronto players found the net to hold off Boston. FLYERS FIRE GM HEXTALL: The Philadelphia Flyers fired general manager Ron Hextall. Hextall was fired after 4 ½ seasons on the job and the Flyers struggling with a 10-11-2 record under coach Dave Hakstol. CANADIENS PLACE ALZNER ON WAIVERS: The Montreal Canadiens placed defenseman Karl Alzner on waivers. The 30-year-old has an assist in eight games this season. He had a goal and 11 points in 82 games with Montreal last season after signing a five-year, $23.125 million deal in the 2017 offseason.