The New York Islanders had visions of a deep run in the playoffs this season but now face fall from the race to a spot in the lower reaches of the Eastern Conference.
On Thursday night, the visiting Washington Capitals hung a 7-3 loss on the Isles.
Philipp Grubauer made 35 saves to backstop the Caps’ win.
“We capitalized on some opportunities,” Caps head coach Barry Trotz said. “I thought [Grubauer] was really strong for us tonight. We were fortunate on a couple of pucks. We had some traffic, but they seemed to go in a little bit easy. You’ve got people there, so it makes it tougher. I thought we had some good fortune.”
T.J. Oshie (two goals), Dmitry Orlov and Andre Burakovsky broke out of slumps with goals as the Caps took a 3-2 lead in the first period and then added two goals in each of the last two periods.
“I think we controlled most of the play,” the Isles’ Ryan Pulock said. “We spent a lot of time in their zone. It just seemed like every time they got in ours, they just found a way to get one. Couple deflections off a couple bodies and stuff. It’s definitely frustrating.”
Ten points separate the Isles from the post season.
icklas Backstrom Lars Eller and John Carlson also scored for the Caps.
“The Islanders just gave us a lot of room to skate on from the beginning. I mean, my first three shifts, I was skating around and around and around with the puck and making plays,” Burakovsky said. “I mean, we didn’t really expect that out of them. We were expecting a little bit harder pressure when we had the puck. But yeah, they gave us a lot of ice to skate on.”
Brock Nelson, Andrew Ladd and Pullock scored for New York.
“It’s brutal. I mean, we need all these points that we can get and we outshoot them (38-22), but they just got a lot of good, quality chances. There’s just small breakdowns that we shouldn’t be doing,” the Islanders’ Johnny Boychuk said after the loss.
[WATCH: All Capitals vs. Islanders highlights]
hristopher Gibson got the start for the Isles but was given the hook after yielding five goals on just 12 shots.
“The first and the third goal were just OK,” Islanders head coach Doug Weight said. “[Gibson] had two really bad bounces. … I didn’t feel bad for him, but enough’s enough. It was five goals and we needed a spark. Just thought I’d get him out.”
Jaroslav Halak took over in the third period and made eight saves in relief.
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