Islanders down Caps

In Washington, DC, Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves for the visiting New York Islanders who defeated the Capitals, 4-3, on Tuesday.

“I thought [Varlamov] was great. He made some big saves when needed,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “They had some good looks. Obviously, he had to battle. They had lots of traffic there at the end.”

Tom Kuhnhackl potted the eventual game-winner near the midway point of the second period.

“Obviously playing with [Barzal] and [Anders Lee], two really offensively talented guys, they’re just going make sure you create some space for them and they’ll find the open space, and I was lucky enough the shot went in,” Kuhnhackl said.

Evgeny Kuznetsov kicked in two goals for the Caps.

“Pretty good hockey from both teams, but some of the mistakes we made, they kind of hurt,” Kuznetsov said. “We had the whole third period to get a goal back, but we didn’t. It’s tough to lose this type of game, especially to a division opponent, right? But it is what it is. We have to learn from this game.”

Tom Wilson also scored for the Caps.

Casey Cizikas struck twice for the Isles.

“The puck was finding me out there,” Cizikas said. “That first one, [Mayfield] made a great play to find me in the high slot. I was just able to get a stick on it and Marty [Matt] was in front with his big body kind of creating havoc there.”

Brock Nelson had a single marker for the Islanders.

“That’s a massive win for us, for the guys in this room,” Cizikas said. “We’re building towards something and we’re getting back to our game and tonight is a massive way to kind of do that.”

[WATCH: All Islanders vs. Capitals higlights]

Braden Holtby made 18 saves in the loss.

“I’ve got to make a save on that fourth goal,” Holtby said. “It’s as simple as that. I thought we played well most areas. Just can’t happen.”