#Islanders drop to third place in East with loss to Capitals

The Islanders were struck by a pair of goals from Daniel Sprong, in injured Alex Ovechkin’s place on Washington’s top line, and Ilya Samsonov made 21 saves as the Capitals won, 6-3, Saturday night at Nassau Coliseum.

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 on Long Island.

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.

Anthony Beauvillier, Adam Pelech and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Islanders. Ilya Sorokin finished with 24 saves.

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.

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 short-handed 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 2 ¹/₂ 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.

However, the Capitals maintained pressure in the third and added to their lead. Kutznetsov added his ninth of the season at 7:35 when his high shot eluded Sorokin, who had a difficult night while falling to 12-5-1 on the season. Sprong added his second of the contest and ninth of the season with 5:17 remaining to complete the scoring.

Hathaway notched his fifth of the season 2:33 into the game when his angled shot from the left corner eluded Sorokin. Oshie made it 2-0 at 10:55 with his 17th goal.

Beauvillier got the Islanders on the scoreboard with a power-play goal with 5 ¹/₂ minutes left in the opening period as he knocked a loose puck past Samsonov for this 10th.