Photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images

The Washington Capitals lost to the New York Islanders by a score of 8-4 at Nassau Coliseum/NYCB Live on Thursday night. The loss put the Capitals into a tie with the Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins for first place in the East Division with two games in hand on both teams. Goaltender Ilya Samsonov made 18 saves in the loss.

Capitals’ Lines at Islanders

 Photo: @Capitals

The Capitals dressed the same lineup as they did in their 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Tuesday other than in goal.

First Period

Goaltender Vitek Vanecek entered the game 30 seconds in after Capitals forward T.J. Oshie ran into Samsonov behind the net and clipped him up high.

Defenseman John Carlson stepped in and drilled one past the blocker of goaltender Semyon Varlamov after getting a feed from along the half-wall by forward Tom Wilson to get the Capitals on the board 61 seconds in. It marked the fastest goal the Capitals have scored to start a game this season. 10 of Wilson’s 14 assists are primary ones.

BLAST OFF! pic.twitter.com/uAvoGTAob1

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 1, 2021

Forward Jordan Eberle finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play with forwards Leo Komarov and Mathew Barzal at the right dot to tie it at 5:02.

Barzal went coast-to-coast and weaved through the Capitals’ five-man unit before zipping past defenseman Zdeno Chara and beating Vanecek to the glove-side from the right circle to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead with 3:51 left in the first.

Samsonov returned with 3:04 remaining. Vanecek made seven saves on nine shots.

Center Brock Nelson poked home a rebound off of a save by Samsonov after he robbed forward Josh Bailey on a turnover by the Capitals in their own end to make it 3-1 Islanders with 2:28 to go in the first.

24 seconds later, forward Daniel Sprong struck off of a faceoff win by center Lars Eller from the left dot, beating Varlamov by the blocker with 1:40 left in the period.

Spronged back in it! pic.twitter.com/yW2i4d7l5B

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 1, 2021

Barzal spun around away from Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom and beat Samsonov to the right pad after Eberle threw the puck through the crease from below the goal-line to double the Islanders’ lead with 1:07 left.

The Capitals led 9-6 in hits, had two giveaways while the Islanders had four, and won 54% of the draws through 20 minutes.

The Islanders led 13-7 in shots, 3-0 in takeaways, and 6-4 in blocked shots after the first.

Each team did not get a power play in the opening period.

Second Period

Center Casey Cizikas won a stick battle with defenseman Justin Schultz in front after forward Cal Clutterbuck forced defenseman Nick Jensen into a turnover behind the net to make it 5-2 3:03 in.

Captain Alex Ovechkin blasted one from his office and the rebound went off of Oshie’s skate in the crease and past Varlamov to cut the Islanders’ lead to two at 6:47. Oshie has three goals in his last three games and six points during a four-game point-streak. The goal marked Oshie’s team-leading seventh on the power play this season.

Osh knocks in the rebound pic.twitter.com/Cx8sJGP8Jg

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 2, 2021

Eberle hammered a one-timer down the wing after getting a cross-ice feed by Barzal to double the Islanders’ lead again at 8:08.

Carlson finished off a three-way passing play with forward Jakub Vrana from the right dot and Sprong from the top at the doorstep to cut the lead to 6-4 with 59 seconds left for his second of the night. The goal put him in sole possession of third place in goals by a Capitals defenseman in franchise history (113).

A beautiful sequence pic.twitter.com/2SorhPDJw8

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 2, 2021

The Capitals led 23-10 in hits, scored on their lone power play, and had six giveaways while the Islanders had seven through 40 minutes.

The Islanders led 22-14 in shots, including 9-7 in the second, 11-5 in blocked shots, 7-0 in takeaways, won 52% of the draws, and did not have a power play in the first two periods.

Third Period

Bailey put one into a wide open net to the glove side of Samsonov after the puck bounced off of Backstrom’s skate and right to him on an attempted pass from the point to make it 7-4 at 3:13.

Barzal finished off the hat trick, batting the puck out of mid-air to the glove side from in tight to restore the Islanders’ four-goal lead with 1:06 left.

The Capitals led 26-20 in hits, and scored on their lone power play.

The Islanders led 33-22 in shots, including 11-8 in the third, 15-8 in blocked shots, 10-2 in takeaways, and did not score on two power plays.

Each team won 50% of the draws was credited with nine giveaways.

The Capitals begin a two-game series with the New Jersey Devils on Friday. Action from Prudential Center can be seen on NBC Sports Washington locally or NHL Network nationally beginning at 7 PM ET.

By Harrison Brown