On Long Island, Ilya Samsonov made 21 saves.for the Washington Capitals on Saturday, in a 6-3 win over the Islanders. 
Daniel Sprong struck for two goals for the Caps.
Sprong iced in place of Alex Ovechkin who is day-to-day.
“We talked about whether or not he had played left wing in his past,” Washington head coach Peter Laviolette said of Sprong. “He said he had, and I thought he played a real good game. He was dangerous. He was attacking the game with speed as well. … So, we were able to keep the lines intact, get contributions from everywhere, and that line was good in Alex’s absence.”
Evgeny Kuznetsov scored once and had three points in the win.
“It’s a team, of course, that’s good at home, and this is a team that we can face in the playoffs,” Sprong said. “So, it’s big for us here to get two road wins in a hard building to play in, and now we’ve got another game against them at home.”
The Islanders have lost four of six.
“We need all our lines going,” New York head coach Barry Trotz said. “[If not], it’s impossible to beat a team that’s pushing. I thought for them, they had all four lines going, and for us, I didn’t feel like we had all four lines going. I felt like we might have had two.”
Garnet Hathaway and T.J. Oshie scored in the opening frame to give the Caps a 2-0 lead.
“I think we had a good start today,” Kuznetsov said. “We kind of played not the best hockey last game in the first period, so today we [were] focusing on that and I think we generated some chances early in the game, and that gave us momentum.”
Anthony Beauvillier scored off the power play to make it 2-1, and Adam Pelech potted a shorthanded goal to tie the game, 2-2, in the middle frame.
Nic Dowd and Sprong replied with two goal to give the Caps a 4-2 lead.
“I think with some injuries, you don’t know what’s going to go on, whether somebody’s going to be available or not available, and that’s why I think people say, ‘day to day’, because they’re unsure,” Laviolette said. “Will he be there for the ne
xt game? I’m not sure at this point. So, we’ll err on the side of caution at this point in the season. We’re not going to risk anything as we head towards the playoffs, but hopefully he continues to improve.”
Jean-Gabriel Pageau got the Isles close with a power play goal to make it 4-3, but Kuznetsov and Sprong scored to make it the 6-3 final.
Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves in the loss.
“We get in those track meet kind of games, especially against a team like Washington, we’re just not going to win many of them,” Pelech said.
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