Game Preview: Islanders vs Capitals

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (35-33-12) VS WASHINGTON CAPITALS (50-21-9)

7:30 PM | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS

WATCH: ISLANDERS APP | ESPN+

LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | ISLANDERS + UBS ARENA APP

The New York Islanders will take on the Washington Capitals in the final home game of the season on Tuesday night.

The Islanders are coming off a 1-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday afternoon. Bo Horvat scored the lone goal of the game and Ilya Sorokin pitched a 25-save shutout.

The Capitals are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday in the second half of a back-to-back set. Alex Ovechkin scored the lone goal for Washington in the loss, while Charlie Lindgren made 19 saves on 23 shots in defeat.

SEASON SERIES

The Islanders lead the season series against the Capitals 1-0-1 this season, most recently winning 4-1 on Apr. 6 at UBS Arena where the only goal Sorokin allowed was Alex Ovechkin’s record-breaking 895^th career goal to become the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer.

The Islanders are 6-3-3 in their last 12 games against Washington.

ISLES NOTES

Although the Islanders were eliminated from playoff contention, Sunday’s 1-0 win over New Jersey showed they’re still playing with a ton of pride as the season comes to a close.

“That’s the quality of this group,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said postgame. “The guys won’t give up, they’ll keep pushing, this is a proud group, they certainly want to finish well.”

Sorokin started in Newark on Sunday after he missed two games with a lower-body injury. In a 25-save performance, the netminder earned his 30^th win of the season and 22^nd shutout of his career, which moved him into a tie with Billy Smith for second-most in franchise history, three behind Chico Resch (25).

Horvat recorded his seventh game-winning goal of the season on Sunday, which marks a career-high. Horvat has 20 points (7G, 13A) in 23 career games against the Capitals, including six points (1G, 5A) in his last six games against Washington.

Adam Pelech left Sunday’s contest with an upper-body injury after he absorbed a hit to the head from New Jersey’s Paul Cotter. Roy did not have an update on Pelech and without the Islanders practicing on Monday, his status will be determined on Tuesday. As for Cotter, the NHL Dept. of Player Safety announced a two-game suspension for the hit.

The Islanders are 19-16-5 on home ice this season.

CAPS NOTES

Washington has clinched first in the Metropolitan Division with 109 points, positioned to take on the Eastern Conference’s second wild card – currently the Montreal Canadiens, who picked up a point in a 4-3 shootout loss on Monday night and did not yet clinch – in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Capitals reached 50 wins on the season for the first time since 2016-17.

The Capitals are 1-3-0 in their last four games and have been outscored 17-9 over that span, including a 4-1 loss to the Isles the last time they visited Long Island on Apr. 6.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 896th career goal on Sunday, which marked Washington’s final home game of the regular season. Ovechkin sat out of Saturday’s contest against the Blue Jackets in a 7-0 loss for Washington.

Aliaksei Protas will not play against the Islanders on Tuesday, as the forward is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury he suffered in a 5-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Apr. 4. Head Coach Spencer Carbery said the hope is that he’ll start skating before the regular season concludes. Protas has 66 points (30G, 36A) through 76 games prior to the injury.

Logan Thompson has been sidelined with an upper-body injury since Apr. 2 but is progressing toward a return, as the netminder skated on his own on Sunday but did not take shots. Thompson has a 31-6-6 record this season with a .910 SV% and a 2.49 GAA.

Charlie Lindgren has picked up most of the workload in Thompson’s absence. Lindgren is 19-14-3 this season, along with a 2.78 GAA and a .894 SV%.

The Caps penalty kill (82.0%) ranks fifth in the NHL.