Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals beat to the New York Islanders 3-2 (OT) on Thursday night at the Barclays Center and have now won the first 3 out of 4 meetings with NYI this season. The Caps are now 42-10-4 and lead the Metro division by 18 points. The Caps return home Saturday to play the New Jersey Devils for the first game of a four game home stand.

Starting Lines for the Capitals:

Offensive lines:
Burakovsky – Backstrom – Oshie
Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Williams
Chimera – Johansson – Wilson
Laich- Richards – Latta

Defensive Pairs:
Schmidt – Carlson
Alzner – Niskanen
Orpik – Orlov

Holtby gets the start between the pipes.

Stanislav Galiev and Taylor Chorney were the healthy scratches. Jay Beagle is still out recovering from injury.

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Quick Takes:
The Capitals once again started off very slow. The Caps have been scored on first in 10 of their last 13 games. However, they were able to come out strong in the second and gain the 2-1 lead after two goals from Alex Ovechkin 87 seconds apart. The Capitals dominated most of the third period, producing several shots on net and controlling the puck for most of the period, but Franz Nielson’s goal at 1:44 tied the game at 2-2. Caps led in SOG 33-21 in regulation. Justin Williams scored in OT on a slapshot with 40 seconds left to secure the victory.

Period 1
The game began with a pretty quick pace, with the Islanders getting a few shots on the goal. Tom Wilson already got into the action with a big hit in the first few seconds. Barry Trotz decided to switch Ovechkin to the second line and Burakovsky to the first line to start. The Islanders received the games first penalty at 10:41 on a (questionable) hold by Andre Burakovsky, but the Caps were able to kill off the penalty. Evgeny Kuznetsov had the best chance of the period for the Capitals when he used his speed get a close shot that just went wide of the goal. John Tavares opened up the scoring with 4:19 left when he was able to put one past Holtby short side.

The Caps had their first power play with about 4 minutes left, but were unable to crack the Islanders penalty kill.

Period 2
1 minute and 25 seconds in. Kuzy. Ovechkin. Beautiful. Kuznetsov skated around the back of the net, turned around and sent his signature pass to Ovechkin in front of the net for an easy goal to tie the game at 1.

The Caps received the first power play of the period at 2:18 when Cal Clutterbuck boarded Dmitry Orlov. Ovechkin scored his league-leading 37^th goal of the season just 36 seconds into this power play to give the Caps the lead 2-1.

The @washcaps trailed. Ovi flipped the lead in a minute and a half. #WSHvsNYIhttps://t.co/8sptK4YEh4

— NHL (@NHL) February 19, 2016

The Caps were unable to cash in on a few more opportunities, but they were able to keep the lead heading into the locker room.

Period 3
A little bit of a slower pace to start the third with both teams getting a few chances in 5-on-5 play, but no one was able to finish. The Caps got the periods first power play at 10 minutes, but were unable to sneak one past Thomas Greiss. Franz Nielson tied the game up with 1:44 left in the game off of a rebound and a quick shot into the back of the net. This one would require OT.

Overtime
Justin “Time” Williams would win it with less than a minute left in overtime to seal the 3-2 victory for the Capitals.