Sport Preview: Islanders vs Capitals – NHL.com

The Islanders face the Capitals within the penultimate recreation of the season (7:30 p.m., ESPN+)
NEW YORK ISLANDERS (35-33-12) VS WASHINGTON CAPITALS (50-21-9)
7:30 PM | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS
WATCH: ISLANDERS APP | ESPN+
LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | ISLANDERS + UBS ARENA APP
The New York Islanders will tackle the Washington Capitals within the remaining residence recreation of the season on Tuesday evening.
The Islanders are coming off a 1-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday afternoon. Bo Horvat scored the lone objective of the sport and Ilya Sorokin pitched a 25-save shutout.
The Capitals are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday within the second half of a back-to-back set. Alex Ovechkin scored the lone objective for Washington within the loss, whereas Charlie Lindgren made 19 saves on 23 pictures in defeat.
The Islanders lead the season sequence in opposition to the Capitals 1-0-1 this season, most not too long ago profitable 4-1 on Apr. 6 at UBS Area the place the one objective Sorokin allowed was Alex Ovechkin’s record-breaking 895^th profession objective to grow to be the NHL’s all-time main objective scorer.
The Islanders are 6-3-3 of their final 12 video games in opposition to Washington.
Though the Islanders have been eradicated from playoff competition, Sunday’s 1-0 win over New Jersey confirmed they’re nonetheless enjoying with a ton of pleasure because the season involves an in depth.
“That’s the standard of this group,” Head Coach Patrick Roy mentioned postgame. “The fellows received’t hand over, they’ll preserve pushing, this can be a proud group, they definitely wish to end effectively.”
Sorokin began in Newark on Sunday after he missed two video games with a lower-body harm. In a 25-save efficiency, the netminder earned his 30^th win of the season and 22^nd shutout of his profession, which moved him right into a tie with Billy Smith for second-most in franchise historical past, three behind Chico Resch (25).
Horvat recorded his seventh game-winning objective of the season on Sunday, which marks a career-high. Horvat has 20 factors (7G, 13A) in 23 profession video games in opposition to the Capitals, together with six factors (1G, 5A) in his final six video games in opposition to Washington.
Adam Pelech left Sunday’s contest with an upper-body harm after he absorbed successful to the pinnacle from New Jersey’s Paul Cotter. Roy didn’t have an replace on Pelech and with out the Islanders practising on Monday, his standing shall be decided on Tuesday. As for Cotter, the NHL Dept. of Participant Security introduced a two-game suspension for the hit.
The Islanders are 19-16-5 on residence ice this season.
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Washington has clinched first within the Metropolitan Division with 109 factors, positioned to tackle the Japanese Convention’s second wild card – at the moment the Montreal Canadiens, who picked up a degree in a 4-3 shootout loss on Monday evening and didn’t but clinch – within the first spherical of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Capitals reached 50 wins on the season for the primary time since 2016-17.
The Capitals are 1-3-0 of their final 4 video games and have been outscored 17-9 over that span, together with a 4-1 loss to the Isles the final time they visited Lengthy Island on Apr. 6.
Alex Ovechkin scored his 896th profession objective on Sunday, which marked Washington’s remaining residence recreation of the common season. Ovechkin sat out of Saturday’s contest in opposition to the Blue Jackets in a 7-0 loss for Washington.
Aliaksei Protas is not going to play in opposition to the Islanders on Tuesday, because the ahead is taken into account week-to-week with a lower-body harm he suffered in a 5-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Apr. 4. Head Coach Spencer Carbery mentioned the hope is that he’ll begin skating earlier than the common season concludes. Protas has 66 factors (30G, 36A) by 76 video games previous to the harm.
Logan Thompson has been sidelined with an upper-body harm since Apr. 2 however is progressing towards a return, because the netminder skated on his personal on Sunday however didn’t take pictures. Thompson has a 31-6-6 report this season with a .910 SV% and a 2.49 GAA.
Charlie Lindgren has picked up many of the workload in Thompson’s absence. Lindgren is 19-14-3 this season, together with a 2.78 GAA and a .894 SV%.
The Caps penalty kill (82.0%) ranks fifth within the NHL.

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