Post-Game Talk: #39| Washington Hockey Team @ New York Islanders | April 6th | 7:00 PM | F/W 1-0

MattMartin · Apr 5, 2021

Game Preview: Capitals @ Islanders

The New York Islanders and Washington Capitals meet for the second of five meetings in April and the second contest between the two East Division clubs in the span of six days as they clash on Tuesday night at Nassau Coliseum.

The game will be the Islanders' third of their six-game homestand and their final time this season wearing their Reverse Retro threads.

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• With an assist on Beauvillier's second goal, Barzal extended his point streak to four games and has compiled nine points (4G, 5A) during that stretch. With the productive week, the 23-year-old center was named the NHL's First Star of the Week on Monday. The first star designation was the first of his career after being named the second star of the week twice previously. Barzal leads the team in scoring with his 34 points through 38 games. He's tied with Brock Nelson and Jordan Eberle for the team lead in goals with 13.

• Beauvillier notched his seventh and eighth goals of the season through 29 games. After having scored just two goals through his first 22 games of the season (2-4-6), the 23-year-old winger has the hot hand as he's registered six goals over his last seven games (6-2-8).

• Beauvillier's first-period power-play tally marked the first time in six games the Islanders scored the first goal of the game. The group is 15-1-2 when scoring first and are 9-9-2 when allowing the opening goal.

• Martin's assist on Beauvillier's power-play goal marked his second power-play point in the last three games. With Anders Lee sidelined for the rest of the season, Martin has been assuming the front of the net position on one of the power play units.

• Sorokin made his 13th start of the season and earned his ninth win of his rookie career to improve his record to 9-3-1. The 25-year-old Russian has a 2.21 GAA and a .914 SV%.

• Nick Leddy skated in his 500th career game as an Islander on Saturday night, becoming just the seventh active Islander to play 500 games with the club. He's also the seventh defenseman in franchise history to reach the milestone. The 30-year-old has totaled 237 points (44G, 193A) in 500 games for the Islanders and has 25 points (1G, 24A) this season.

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CAPITALS NOTES:

• Ovechkin recorded a three-point outing on Sunday, including his 19th goal of the season, which is tied with three other players for the fourth-most goals in the league. The Caps captain now has 34 points (19G, 15A) in as many games.

• Oshie scored his 11th goal of the season and now has goals in four of his last five games. The winger has totaled 27 points (11G, 16A) through 37 games this season.
• Hagelin's shorthanded goal marked his fourth goal of the season and was the Capitals' second goal scored on the PK. Washington's penalty kill ranks eighth overall in the NHL at 82.6%.

• With an assist on Ovechkin's power-play goal, Nicklas Backstrom recorded his team-high 39th point (13G, 26A) of the season. The veteran Swedish center now has points (1G, 4A) in five of his last six games and has only gone without a point 10 games this season.

• Kuznetsov posted a two-point outing with a goal and assist. Kuznetsov has 20 points (7G, 13A) in 28 games this season.

• On the Caps backend, both Brenden Dillon and Dmitry Orlov dished out two assists.

•Washington's power play is ranked seventh overall in the NHL at 24.5%.

• Defenseman John Carlson didn't record a point in Washington's win over New Jersey and thus snapped his three-game point streak where he'd posted four points (3G, 1A). Carlson's 32 points (10G, 22A) this season are ranked the third most by defensemen across the NHL.

• Jakub Vrana was a healthy scratch for the second-straight game, the winger had not been a healthy scratch since April 5, 2018, prior to Capitals Head Coach Peter Laviolette's decision to sit him for both games against New Jersey. Vrana has gone 11 straight games without a goal, since his two-goal game on March 9 over New Jersey. Through 35 games, the Czech winger totaled 23 points (10G, 13A).

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Possible Starting Goalies:

Semyon Varlamov

Player	GP	GS	W	L	T	OT	SA	GA	GAA	S	SV%	SO	MIN
Ilya Sorokin	13	13	9	3	0	1	324	28	2.21	296	.914	2	761
Semyon Varlamov	26	25	15	7	0	3	714	58	2.26	656	.919	3	1,541