Photo: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

The Washington Capitals defeated the New York Islanders by a score of 3-2 at Capital One Arena on Tuesday night in the two teams’ first meeting since the first-round series of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs in August, which the Islanders won in five games. The Capitals are now two points ahead of the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins for the top spot in the East Division. Goaltender Vitek Vanecek made his fourth consecutive start and stopped 32 shots in the win.

Capitals’ Lines vs. Islanders

Photo: @Capitals

Captain Alex Ovechkin, center Evgeny Kuznetsov, defenseman Dmitry Orlov, and goaltender Ilya Samsonov, who are all on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list, missed their third consecutive game. Forward Tom Wilson missed his second consecutive game due to a lower-body injury after being labeled as a game-time decision heading into Tuesday’s game. Center Connor McMichael came out. Center Michael Sgarbossa made his season debut and forward Daniel Carr made his Capitals’ debut. Defenseman Nick Jensen remained out of the lineup.

Islanders forward Anthony Beauvillier was placed on injured reserve before the game due to a lower-body injury.

First Period

Defenseman John Carlson pounced on a loose puck down low after defenseman Justin Schultz’s point shot was stopped by Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov to extend his point-streak to four games and open the scoring 11:06 into the game.

First goal in our new blues goes to Carly! 💪 pic.twitter.com/Bucezxly9C

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 27, 2021

Forward Anders Lee deflected defenseman Noah Dobson’s point shot through traffic after center Mathew Barzal fed Dobson along the half-wall to tie it up with 4:27 left in the first.

The Capitals led 17-11 in shots and scored on their lone power-play of the period.

The Islanders led 8-6 in hits, 7-2 in blocked shots, 1-0 in takeaways, had one giveaway while the Capitals had four, didn’t have a power-play, and won 53% of the draws in the first.

Second Period

After defenseman Zdeno Chara gave the puck away from behind the net, Barzal went from forehand to backhand to beat Vanecek blocker-side to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 10:01.

Forward Daniel Sprong sniped his first goal as a Capital from the slot to the top left corner after getting a feed from Carr to tie the game with 2:39 left in the period.

what a ripper! 💨 pic.twitter.com/g7TM6orDXn

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 27, 2021

The Capitals led 26-25 in shots, won 58% of the draws, and scored on their lone power-play through two periods.

The Islanders led 14-9 in second-period shots, 14-12 in hits, 13-7 in blocked shots, and 1-0 in takeaways. They also failed to score on three power-plays and had one giveaway while the Capitals had five in the first 40 minutes.

Third Period

Capitals center Lars Eller left the game after getting crunched into the boards by Islanders forward Leo Komarov, who was assessed a five-minute major penalty on the play with 9:01 left.

Defenseman Justin Schultz wristed one under the blocker of Varlamov from the right circle after getting a feed from forward Garnet Hathaway from along the half-wall to give the Capitals a 3-2 lead with 26.4 left.

REGULATION HERO JUSTIN SCHULTZ! pic.twitter.com/qiAiFhjxcS

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 27, 2021

The Capitals led 36-34 in shots, including 10-9 in the third, and scored on one of two power-plays.

The Islanders led 18-14 in hits, 21-16 in blocked shots, and 2-0 in takeaways. They also failed to score on three power-plays, and had three giveaways while the Capitals had eight.

Each team won 50% of the draws.

The Capitals and Islanders will tangle with one another again on Thursday night at Capital One Arena starting at 7 PM ET. NBC Sports Washington will broadcast the game.

By Harrison Brown