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The Washington Capitals aim to win their fourth straight game on Thursday when they host the New York Islanders.
The Capitals began their winning streak with a 6-4 victory in New Jersey before capturing the first two contests of their five-game homestand. Washington followed up a 3-2 shootout win over the Minnesota Wild last Friday with a 3-1 victory over the winless San Jose Sharks on Sunday.
“It hasn’t been easy, certainly,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “But it’s good. It’s not easy to win in this league, as everybody knows. So when you string three wins together, however they look — shootouts, comebacks, whatever it is — we’re gaining some momentum.”
Rugged Tom Wilson, fellow forward Dylan Strome and superstar captain Alex Ovechkin are picking up steam on an individual basis.
Wilson recorded his 300th career point, scoring for the second time in as many games on Sunday. He is riding a four-game point streak (two goals, two assists).
Strome has scored in three straight games to boost his team-leading goal total to six.
“He’s just playing at a real high level right now,” Carbery said of Strome. “He’s putting himself in good spots. He’s playing a well-rounded game.”
Strome collected three goals and an assist to help the Capitals post a 3-0-1 record against the Islanders last season.
Ovechkin leads the team in points (eight) due in large part to his current six-game point streak (two goals, six assists). He set up a pair of tallies to remain even with defenseman John Carlson with a club-high-tying six assists.
There was some bad news for Washington on Wednesday as alternate captain Nicklas Backstrom announced he is stepping away from the team due to an injury.
Backstrom, 35, has one assist through eight games this season. He underwent hip resurfacing surgery in June after playing in a career-low 39 games in 2022-23.
“Given my ongoing injury situation, I decided to take some time and step away from the game,” he said in a news release. “This is a difficult decision, but one that I feel is right for my health at this time.”
While Washington is ascending, New York is going in the other direction with losses in four of its past six games (2-2-2). The Islanders saw their modest two-game winning streak come to a halt on Monday, squandering a two-goal lead in the third period in a 4-3 overtime setback to the Detroit Red Wings.
“When you have a 2-0 lead, there’s a certain way, and there’s a certain way our team has to play in order to have success,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. “We got to keep pushing the puck north, and when we get away from that and deviate from that, it’s not a recipe for success for us, and that’s what happened.”
Defenseman Noah Dobson had two assists to record his third multi-point performance in his past four games. He leads the team in both assists (seven) and points (nine).
“We can’t give up three unanswered there in the third,” Dobson said. “We battled hard at the end there on the power play to get a point at least, but not good enough in the third, that’s for sure.”
Dobson needs two more assists become the second youngest defenseman in franchise history to reach 100 — joining four-time Stanley Cup winner and Hockey Hall of Famer Denis Potvin.
Bo Horvat and Brock Nelson each found the net on Monday to remain tied for the team lead in goals (four).
–Field Level Media