Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images

The Capitals fell to the Islanders 3-2 Tuesday night at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, New York. The loss dropped the Capitals record to 33-11-6 (72 points). The Capitals next travel home to host the Bruins on Wednesday night. The game will be NBC’s “Wednesday Rivalry Night” game of the week. Puck drop is an annoying 8:00PM. 

Philipp Grubauer got the start in goal for the Caps. With the Caps playing the first of a back-to-back set, and Braden Holtby participating in All-Star weekend festivities, Holtby will start at home on Wednesday night versus the Bruins.

John Carlson returned to the lineup after missing the last six consecutive games with a lower body injury.

Christian Djoos, Taylor Chorney and Chandler Stephenson were the healthy scratches.

QUICK NOTES

• The Capitals penalty kill has now allowed a goal in five straight games.
• The Capitals continue to play soft in the second period.

Caps goal differential by period:
1st +30
2nd even
3rd +23
OT +4@CSNCapitals@MayHockeyCSN@WaltonCaps@Laughlin18@JoeBpXp#capitalstalk

— Adam Miller (@millerpenaltybx) February 1, 2017

• The Caps third line had a good game, possession stats wise.
• The Islanders Thomas Greiss had a good game in goal.
• The Islanders improved to 6-0-1 in last 7 games (including 5-0-1 in 6 games since Doug Weight was named interim coach).
• Evgeny Kuznetsov’s 20 points in January are the most in a month by a Capitals player since Alex Ovechkin in April 2013 (22).

FIRST PERIOD
The Capitals struck first, catching the Islanders in a line change. Justin Williams made a nice seam pass to Evgeny Kuznetsov for the goal at 4:41 of the opening frame.

The Caps would kill off an Islanders power play mid-way through the period, keeping the game scoreless. The period would end with the Capitals leading 1-0. The Islanders led in shots on goal, 11-9 through the first 20 minutes.

SECOND PERIOD
The Islanders would tie the game on a power play goal by Alan Quine at 2:41 of the middle frame.

The period would end with the game tied 1-1. The Islanders led in shots on goal 11-5 for the period, and 22-14 through two periods of play.

THIRD PERIOD
The Islanders would take the lead on a goal by Ryan Strome at 6:31 of the final frame.

The Islanders added an empty net goal late, to make it 3-1, but Alex Ovechkin would notch a tally in 6-on-5 play, closing the gap to 3-2 with 47 seconds left in the game.

The Islanders would hold on for the 3-2 win.

By Jon Sorensen
Follow @NoVa_Caps

SCENES FROM BROOKLYN

YOU’RE ON THE SAME TEAM! 🙃 #CapsIsles #RockTheRed pic.twitter.com/cwr8FfEXKN

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 31, 2017

Hey here we are! #CapsIsles pic.twitter.com/XIxuTkODVB

— Craig Laughlin (@Laughlin18) February 1, 2017