Photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images

The Capitals fell to the Islanders 3-1. After a quiet two periods the Caps got on the board in the third but it wasn’t enough. The Capitals record drops to 18-12-1 and are now tied with the Islanders for second place in the Metropolitian Division at 37 points. The Capitals will head back to DC late tonight before hosting the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday night at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is 7:00 p.m. 

STARTERS
Braden Holtby got the start in goal for the Capitals. The Islanders went with Jaroslav Halak in between the pipes. The starting lines for the Capitals:

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Chiasson
Connolly-Eller-Burakovsky
Stephenson-Beagle-DSP
Orpik-Carlson
Orlov-Niskanen
Djoos-Bowey

Scratches: T.J. Oshie didn’t travel with the team to Brooklyn, but Barry Trotz told the media pregame that he did skate this morning for the second day in a row and is “feeling good.” Taylor Chorney was the healthy scratch.

FIRST PERIOD
The Islanders struck first on their second shot of the game. Cal Clutterbuck fired the first shot and Holtby stopped the puck with his right pad but Brock Nelson was right in front of the net to rebound it in at 2:36.

The bank is open for @Bnelson! #Isles pic.twitter.com/QMRvv82era

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) December 12, 2017

At 4:22 of the second, the Capitals got their first power play of the night as Anders Lee got called for slashing Madison Bowey. The Capitals couldn’t cash in. Nicklas Backstrom went to the sin bin twice in the second period. The first one for slashing at 8:29 and the second one was tripping at 15:01. Mathew Barzal was the victim both times.

The Islanders led in shots 3-1 in the first five minutes. The Capitals had a great scoring chance with under 13 minutes to go, as Jay Beagle gathered the puck off a turnover by Josh Bailey, raced down the ice and shot the puck wide-left off the net.

The Islanders had the game’s first power play as Lars Eller was called for cross-checking Joshua Ho-Sang at 10:17. The Caps successfully killed-off the penalty, as the Islanders couldn’t record a shot on goal on the power play.

The Islanders pressured Holtby throughout the period. There was a scrum in front of the net with 4:36 left in the period and Anders Lee thought he had a goal but it turned out that his stick pushed Holby’s pad into the net after Holtby stopped the puck. The goal was waved off, the Islanders challenged the call but the call stood. No goal.

The Islanders headed to the dressing room with a 1-0 lead and outshot the Caps in the opening period 10-7.

SECOND PERIOD
The Islanders went up 2-0 just 36 seconds into the second period. Calvin de Hann fed Andrew Ladd with a nice pass in front of the net and Ladd buried it.

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) December 12, 2017

John Tavares would make it 3-0 just 58 seconds later as he was on the receiving end of a Bailey pass with Holtby out of position. The net was wide open and Tavares took advantage. After this goal, Holtby would be pulled. Philipp Grubauer entered the game.

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) December 12, 2017

At 4:22 of the second, the Capitals got their first power play of the night as Anders Lee got called for slashing Madison Bowey. The Capitals couldn’t cash in. Nicklas Backstrom went to the sin bin twice in the second period. The first one for slashing at 8:29 and the second one was tripping at 15:01. Mathew Barzal was the victim both times.

The Capitals outshot the Islanders 15-10 in the second period. The Islanders led 3-0 after two periods. Holtby finished his night stopping 9-of-12 shots with a .750 save percentage in 21:34 minutes of action. Grubauer was perfect in the second period after he came on in relief, stopping all eight shots he faced.

THIRD PERIOD
The Capitals had a good scoring chance early in the third with a backhanded shot by Evgeny Kuznetsov that was stopped by Halak. Halak also stopped Alex Ovechkin on a shot.

Washington had a good opportunity when Jakub Vrana drew a tripping call on Tavares five minutes into the final period. Once again, the Caps came up empty on the power play.

The Capitals finally got on the board at 8:23. On a 2-on-1 rush down the ice, Chandler Stephenson found Dmitry Orlov for the one-timer. It was Orlov’s third goal of the season.

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 12, 2017 The

Capitals pulled Grubauer late in the game for an extra skater but couldn’t find the back of the net as the Caps fell 3-1. The Capitals outshot the Islanders 10-9 in the third period and 32-29 the entire 60 minutes.

Grubauer stopped all 17 shots he faced, 12 at five-on-five and five saves while the Islanders were on the power play. Halak stopped 31-of-32 shots for a .969 save percentage.

SHAVINGS

• Dmitry Orlov has record a point in four straight games (1 goal, 3 assists).
• The Capitals are 6-10 when they allow the game’s first goal (Ted Starkey).

By Michael Marzzacco
Follow @marswaggo

SCENES FROM BROOKLYN

— Ted Starkey (@TedStarkey) December 12, 2017

— Craig Laughlin (@Laughlin18) December 12, 2017

— Diane (@DianeBix) December 12, 2017