In Washington, DC, Justin Schultz ended a tight match between the Capitals and the visiting New Islanders when he scored with 27 seconds left in regulation to give the Caps a 3-2 win on Tuesday night. 
“Justin to me in the last two or three games has really tried to put the skating part of his game and the attack part of his game [together], and you can see it as he comes out of the defensive zone and he’s joining the rush,” Washington head coach Peter Laviolette said. “Tonight’s goal was a perfect example, just getting involved in the play.”
Vitek Vanecek made 32 saves to get the win for Washington.
The Caps played again without four players because of COVID19 protocol violations and lost two more to injury during the game.
“When you lose guys like that, sometimes it can break you and sometimes it can bring you closer together,” the Capitals’ T.J. Oshie said. “You look at the names of the guys who didn’t finish the game and the guys who are out, some pretty big names, but the boys pulled together and found a way to get a W.”
Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson were the Isles strikers.
“This is playoff mentality right now, and I’m not quite sure that we’re in our playoff mentality right now, which is really [ticking] me off,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said.
John Carlson had a goal and an assist and Daniel Sprong also scored for the Caps who had a 2-0 lead before the Isles rallied to tie.
“I think our line is creating a lot of chances over the last four games and we knew it was going to come any time now, but [Daniel] Carr made a great play to the middle and I got a shot off,” Sprong said.
Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves in the loss.
“We had that huge five-minute kill there,” the Isles’ Andy Greene said. “At that point, we’ve got to somehow figure out how to just get it to end of the game and try to get the extra point in OT.”
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