Tom Wilson scored twice and Logan Thompson carried a shutout deep into the third period Sunday afternoon for the visiting Washington Capitals, who continued surging with a 4-1 win over the reeling New York Islanders in Elmont, N.Y.
Aliaksei Protas and Alex Ovechkin added empty-netters in the final 71 seconds for the Capitals, who have won four straight and seven of eight (7-1-0). Thompson made 30 saves and has allowed four goals in his last three outings.
Wilson notched an assist for a three-point afternoon, while Ovechkin also added an assist to his ledger.
Bo Horvat scored a power play goal in the later stages of the third period for the undermanned Islanders, who fell to 1-3-1 on a seven-game homestand that began immediately after a 6-1-0 road trip. New York played Sunday without Kyle Palmieri, who suffered a torn left ACL in Friday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who is week-to-week with an upper body injury.
Goalie Ilya Sorokin recorded 14 saves, as New York outshot Washington, 31-18.
Wilson opened the scoring just 12 seconds after Matthew Schaefer was whistled for tripping. Ovechkin, at the top of the left faceoff circle, passed to Wilson, who was stationed at the goal line and flicked a shot over Sorokin’s stick-side blocker at the 7:37 mark.
Sorokin’s turnover led to Wilson’s unassisted goal with 6:02 left in the second. The netminder’s pass from behind the Islanders’ net, intended for Schaefer, was picked off by Wilson, who backhanded home a shot into the wide-open net past a sprawling Sorokin.
Anthony Beauvillier was penalized for high sticking to set up Horvat’s goal with 6:17 left. Ryan Pulock’s shot from the high slot glanced off Capitals center Connor McMichael and bounced towards the net, where Anders Lee swiped at the puck twice before Horvat swooped in between Washington defensemen Rasmus Sandin and Matt Roy and tucked a shot under Thompson’s legs.
The Islanders pulled Sorokin with a little more than two minutes left but didn’t build a serious threat before Protas and Ovechkin scored their empty-netters. The goal was the 909th for Ovechkin, who broke Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record against New York at UBS Arena on Apr. 6.
