Capitals dominate Isles, stay atop East
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Daniel Sprong scored twice in injured Alex Ovechkin’s place on Washington’s top line , Ilya Samsonov made 21 saves and the Capitals beat the New York Islanders 6-3 Saturday night.
Evgeny Kutznetsov had a goal and two assists, and Nic Dowd, Garnet Hathaway and T.J. Oshie also scored as the Capitals won for the second time in three nights at Nassau Coliseum.
Washington, which also won 1-0 in a shootout on Thursday, remained in first place in the tight East Division, one point ahead of second-place Pittsburgh. The Islanders are in third, two points behind the Penguins, and three ahead of Boston.
The Capitals also improved to 17-7-2 on the road, one win ahead of Winnipeg for the most road wins this season. The Capitals have won five of seven meetings with the Islanders, and the teams meet for the final time during the regular season Tuesday in Washington.
Anthony Beauvillier, Adam Pelech and JeanGabriel Pageau scored for the Islanders. Ilya Sorokin finished with 24 saves.
Ovechkin missed the contest with a lower-body injury. It was the first game Ovechkin missed due to injury during the abbreviated 56-game season. The 35-year-old Ovechkin — sixth on the all-time goals list at 730 — also missed four games earlier while on the league’s COVID-19 list.
Ovechkin has 24 goals in 43 games this season.
Samsonov improved to 13-3-1 this season and handed the Islanders just their third regulation loss in 25 home games (19-3-3).
Trailing 2-1 after 20 minutes, the Islanders tied at 7:37 of the second as Pelech surprised Samsonov with a long slap shot on a coast-to-coast effort. It was his third goal of the season and first shorthanded tally of his career.
Dowd put the Capitals back ahead for good with 7:39 left in the period when his high shot from the left faceoff circle eluded Sorokin. Sprong extended the lead to 4-2 about 21⁄2 minutes later. Defenseman Brendan Dillon assisted on both goals.
Pageau brought the Islanders within one with a power-play goal with 2:48 remaining in the second.