This evening on NBCSN, it’s the Washington Capitals hosting the New York Islanders starting at 7:30 p.m. ET. Following are some game notes, as compiled by the NHL on NBC research team:
• The Islanders visit Washington tonight having allowed 21 goals in dropping their last 5 games (0-4-1). New York’s 3.28 goals-against average is 2nd-worst in the league, better only than Edmonton’s 3.34 GAA. The Capitals, meanwhile, has scored 21 goals in their last five games, a 3-1-1 stretch that followed a season-worst seven-game skid.
• The Islanders are 5-14-3 vs. the Metropolitan Division, the worst record of any NHL team within its own division. With 50 points, the Islanders sit in last place in the Metro, 12 points out of a playoff spot and trying to avoid a 6th last-place finish in 7 seasons.
• Washington’s Joel Ward has 4 goals and an assist in his last 3 games to raise his season total to 17, matching his career high from 2009-10 as a Predator. Ward hasn’t scored against the Islanders since Nov. 5, 2011 (0- 2=2 in 8 games since).
• Alex Ovechkin’s game-winning goal vs. Detroit on Sunday was his league-leading 39th of the season and the 15th overtime winner of his career, tied for the third-most all-time (Mats Sundin, Sergei Fedorov). Only New Jersey’s Jaromir Jagr (18) and Patrik Elias (16) have more.
• The Capitals’ power play (23.2%, 3rd in NHL) awoke with 4 goals in 8 chances over the weekend home-and home with Detroit, following a 3-for-42 stretch spanning 11 games. It will look to keep rolling tonight against the Isles’ league-worst penalty kill (76.8%) – although the Isles are near the top of the league with 5 shorthanded goals while the Caps’ PP has been burned for 7.
• Washington has split its goals evenly over home and away games (79 home goals, 77 away goals, 28 games each). But Ovechkin hasn’t: 24 of his 39 tallies have come on home ice.
• New York’s Evgeni Nabokov is 12-2-3 in his career vs. the Caps, but was roughed up in his last outing against them, allowing a season-high 6 goals in a 6-2 loss Nov. 5 at Verizon Center. Nabokov is 0-2-0 with a 2.32 GAA since missing 10 games with a leg injury and will be seeking his first win since Jan. 2.
• Braden Holtby (WSH) counters with a 4-1-0 record and 1.77 GAA vs. the Islanders, though Holtby has been burned for 9 goals in his last two starts. Since Dec. 10, Holtby is 2-4-1, 3.77 GAA, .863 save%.
• Kyle Okposo, the Isles’ leader in goals (24 – matching career high), has points in 7 of his last 8 games. The St. Paul, Minn., product has 18 multi-point games this season, tied with Patrick Kane and Phil Kessel (both U.S. Olympians) for 2nd-most in the league (Sidney Crosby, 22). Since Dec. 17, no NHL player has scored more points than Okposo, and his usual linemates – with whom he’s been split at times recently – aren’t far behind.
Kyle Okposo, NYI 29
Phil Kessel, TOR 29
Sidney Crosby, PIT 28
John Tavares, NYI 27
Claude Giroux, PHI 27
Taylor Hall, EDM 26
Thomas Vanek, NYI 25
Wayne Simmonds, PHI 25
Tavares, however, is in the thick of his longest goal drought since 2011-12, with no goals in his last 6 games. Both Tavares and Vanek have gone without a point in their last 3 contests, though Tavares has a 6-game goal streak vs. the Caps.