Strome scores hat trick, Capitals edge Islanders

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Dylan Strome scored his third NHL hat trick for the Washington Capitals in a 3-1 win against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Tuesday.

It was Strome's first hat trick since March 8, 2022, for the Chicago Blackhawks. He has 29 goals this season, an NHL career high.

“It's nice. I have a lot of great players I get to play with,” Strome said. “I was playing with for most of the season, and obviously the season that had, and to play with guys like and then and ... our whole team has been chipping in. I feel like we’ve done it the whole year. A bump in the road the last maybe week or so, two weeks, but we feel like it's kind of expected in the spot we're at. I thought we dug deep and battled hard."

Charlie Lindgren made 32 saves for the Capitals (51-21-9), who had lost two in a row (outscored 11-1).

Washington, which will finish first in the Metropolitan Division, will conclude its regular season at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.

“I thought it was a good win,” Lindgren said. “I thought it was a really good team win. I felt like it was one of the cleaner games we've played in a while. I thought from start to finish it was just a consistent effort. I thought we did a lot of really good things offensively. I thought defensively we were steady tonight and detailed. We didn't turn the puck over and, yeah, credit to our guys. I mean, I think we needed that effort in Game 81, you know? It just makes us feel better about our game.”

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Islanders (35-34-12), who have lost four of their past five games (1-2-2). Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves.

New York, which has been eliminated from playoff contention, will conclude its regular season at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.

“We're going to play till the end,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “We’re not going to give up. I know we put ourselves in that position. We're not in the playoffs, and we're all disappointed, but we're going to play. ... Everybody wanted to play, and I thought that the guys, I mean, give everything they had.”

Strome gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead on a power play at 8:15 of the first period. He scored with a point shot that deflected off Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock and beat Sorokin blocker side.

Strome extended the lead to 2-0 at 7:52 of the second period. Ovechkin stole the puck from Scott Mayfield behind the net and sent a backhand pass to Strome, who scored with a shot from the high slot that snuck under Sorokin's blocker arm.

Anders Lee appeared to score for the Islanders on a power play at 1:19 of the third period, but the goal was waved off immediately. Lee had tried to catch the puck in the low slot but ended up knocking it into the net with his glove instead.

Pageau did cut the lead to 2-1 at 11:36 of the third, knocking in Hudson Fasching's centering pass at the top of the crease.

Noah Dobson had a chance to tie it a short time later at 14:05, but his shot off the rush hit the post.

“We had some looks in the third,” Lee said. “I thought we had a better push in the third. There wasn't a ton. You’re kind of seeing that in these games here. There’s not a ton out there getting generated, but we gave ourselves a shot and came up short, which is frustrating, no doubt.”

Lindgren preserved the one-goal lead when he denied a few chances from Lee at the post before getting a whistle at 18:25. Strome then completed the hat trick by scoring into an empty net at 18:49 for the 3-1 final.

“Yeah, we put Strome out there in an unorthodox spot for him, 5-on-6, but knew that he had two and thought it was a good time for him to be able to get out there and try to seal the victory for us,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “And he's done a lot for this team, so he deserves and has earned to be in that spot to try to get that hat trick and seal a win for us at this point in the season. So, that was good. And his goals, obviously, are the difference.”

NOTES: Capitals defensemen John Carlson and Jakob Chychrun did not play due to maintenance. ... Ovechkin extended point streak to eight games (seven goals, five assists). ... Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov did not play because of an illness.