Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri each scored in the shootout and Ilya Sorokin finished with 25 saves to lift the visiting New York Islanders to a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.
Washington’s Evgeny Kuznetsov and Horvat each converted in the first round before Sorokin denied T.J. Oshie to begin the second. Palmieri beat Darcy Kuemper over his glove hand before Sorokin sealed the win by stopping Nicklas Backstrom in the third round.
Pierre Engvall scored early in the second period for the Islanders (39-28-9, 87 points), who improved to 8-3-1 in their last 12 games. New York moved five points ahead of idle Pittsburgh for the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, although the Penguins have two games in hand.
Conor Sheary scored a goal and Kuemper turned aside 28 shots for the Capitals (34-32-9, 77 points), who have lost five of their last six games (1-3-2) to reside five points behind Pittsburgh.
Washington’s Tom Wilson was whistled for tripping with 28.8 seconds remaining in overtime, giving New York the only power play of the game. The Capitals prevented the Islanders from scoring the would-be game-winning goal.
Engvall’s wrist shot from the left circle handcuffed Kuemper to open the scoring at 3:52 of the second period. The goal was Engvall’s 17th of the season and fifth in his last nine games.
Sheary forged a tie 2 1/2 minutes later after his backhand shot from the slot banked off the left post and into the net. His goal was his 15th of the season and third in his last four games.
Palmieri, who had five goals in his previous six games, nearly snapped a 1-1 tie midway into the third period. His shot, however, deflected off the right post.
Washington’s superstar captain Alex Ovechkin nearly opened the scoring midway into the first period, but his shot from the left circle caromed off both the glove of Sorokin and the crossbar.
–Field Level Media
