The Capitals swept a three-game series from the Islanders. That was bad enough. But the Islanders went all three games without scoring a goal five-on-five.
The Capitals, without an injured Alex Ovechkin for a second straight game, won, 1-0, on Tuesday night in Washington as the Islanders (29-15-5) have been held to one or fewer goals in five of their last seven games.
Rookie Ilya Sorokin (32 saves) was the surprise starter after making 24 saves in Saturday’s 6-3 loss at Nassau Coliseum, a shaky outing that saw him allow two questionable goals.
Semyon Varlamov, who did not dress because of an undisclosed issue, made 28 saves in Thursday’s 1-0 shootout loss at the Coliseum, his second shutout over the Capitals this season.
The Capitals’ Vitek Vanecek only had to stop 18 shots for his second shutout.
Sorokin made his NHL debut in a 5-0 loss to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 16 as a last-minute replacement after Varlamov was injured in pre-game warmups.
Coach Barry Trotz re-inserted rookie Oliver Wahlstrom for Michael Dal Colle and defenseman Braydon Coburn for Noah Dobson. He elevated Josh Bailey to top-line center Mathew Barzal’s left wing and put ex-Devils Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac on second-line center Brock Nelson’s wings.
Trotz likened finding the right line combinations to figuring out a Rubik’s Cube.
"A Rubik’s Cube would probably be a better analogy to that than a puzzle," he said before the game. "I’m just trying to get a little more production out of the lines."
At the core is how to coax the most production out of Barzal and whoever might be on his line.
He has just four goals — of his 13 for the season — in the 22 games since captain and longtime linemate Anders Lee suffered a season-ending torn right anterior cruciate ligament on March 11. Three of those goals came in the Islanders’ 8-4 win over the Capitals at the Coliseum on April 1 when Barzal matched a career high with five points.
On Saturday, the Islanders went 2-for-2 on the power play and also added a shorthanded goal. But they were 0-for-3 on Tuesday, not getting a shot on net after Evgeny Kuznetsov slashed Jordan Eberle at 10:50 of the third period. They also couldn’t convert on a four-on-three that lasted one minute, 13 seconds after Anthony Mantha’s slashing penalty at 14:22 of the third period.
Sorokin allowed a goal on the first shot for the second straight game as Daniel Sprong, skating in for the left, gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 1:29 of the first period.
The Islanders got out of the opening period trailing by that one goal after killing off a Capitals’ five-on-three man advantage that lasted one minute, 16 seconds after Coburn tripped Tom Wilson at 18:34 with fellow defenseman Ryan Pulock already in the penalty box.
The Capitals did not get a shot on goal against the penalty-kill unit of defensemen Adam Pelech and Scott Mayfield with Jean-Gabriel Pageau, though T.J. Oshie misfired on two one-timers from the left circle, Ovechkin’s normal spot.
The Islanders then mustered little in the second period as the Capitals were able to hem them in their own zone for stretches. That included one shift where Casey Cizikas was on the ice for 2:12 and Bailey one second less that ended when Sorokin was able to glove Lars Eller’s shot at 9:35.
Capitals defenseman Zdeno Chara, at 44 years, 40 days, became the oldest player in NHL history to earn a fighting major after taking on Matt Martin at 4:20 of the second period.
