Jon Lane – NHL.com Staff Writer
NEW YORK — Justin Williams scored at 4:16 of overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 3-2 win against the New York Islanders at Barclays Center on Thursday.
Alex Ovechkin scored twice, including his League-leading 37th goal, and Braden Holtby made 20 saves for his 36th win.
The Capitals (42-10-4) are 9-1-2 in their past 12 games against the Islanders, including 3-0-0 this season.
Islanders forward Frans Nielsen tied the game 2-2 with 1:44 left in the third period. Nielsen collected a rebound of Travis Hamonic’s shot and deflected the puck through traffic past Holtby for his 16th goal and first in eight games.
John Tavares scored and Thomas Greiss made 32 saves for the Islanders (30-19-7), who lost their first game in Brooklyn this month (4-0-1) and dropped to 19-9-3 on home ice.
Tavares got the Islanders on the board with his 22nd goal. He started a rush and found Nick Leddy in the middle of three Capitals defenders. Leddy threaded a pass to Tavares’ left, and Tavares made a nifty move from his backhand to his forehand around defenseman Nate Schmidt to beat Holtby at 15:41 and extend his point streak to seven games (five goals, six assists).
Washington took control in the second period beginning with Ovechkin’s two goals in a span of 87 seconds. Ovechkin, playing with new linemates in center Evgeny Kuznetsov and Williams, tied the game 1-1 with this 36th goal of the season at 1:25. Kuznetsov collected a loose puck off the boards, skated behind the Islanders net and found Ovechkin with a spinning backhand pass. Standing alone in front of the net, Ovechkin beat Greiss glove side.
With Cal Clutterbuck in the penalty box for boarding, Ovechkin scored his second of the game. T.J. Oshie received a pass along the boards and fed Nicklas Backstrom skating up the middle. Backstrom found Ovechkin who beat Greiss with a slap shot at 2:52. Ovechkin has 45 points (30 goals, 15 assists) in 40 career games against the Islanders.
The Capitals outshot the Islanders 14-4 in the second and 35-22 in the game. They’re 32-0-1 when leading after two periods, best in the NHL, and 67-2-4 in two seasons under coach Barry Trotz, including 58-1-4 when holding a lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in the third period.
New York was 0-for-2 on the power play, ending its streak of six straight games scoring with the man advantage.
The Islanders played without defenseman Calvin de Haan, who missed his first game of the season because of a lower-body injury.
The Islanders play the first of a seven-game road trip and the second of a back-to-back set against the New Jersey Devils on Friday. The Capitals begin a four-game homestand against the Devils on Saturday.
(Reprinted With Permission of the New York Islanders)
