On April 6, with Alex Ovechkin one goal away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record, fans spent thousands of dollars to get inside UBS Arena and 1.3 million viewers tuned into TNT/truTV to watch Ovechkin and the Capitals take on the New York Islanders.
The rematch Tuesday is not likely to generate a similarly frenzied audience.
Ovechkin and the Capitals will continue tuning up for the playoffs against the lottery-bound Islanders in the penultimate game of the regular season for both teams in Elmont, N.Y.
Each squad was off Monday after playing Sunday afternoon. Ovechkin scored the only goal for the host Capitals as the Columbus Blue Jackets completed a home-and-home weekend sweep with a 4-1 victory. Ilya Sorokin recorded a 25-save shutout as the Islanders edged the host New Jersey Devils 1-0.
The loss continued a late-season lull for the Capitals (50-21-9, 109 points), whose best regular season since 2016-17 has allowed them to focus on Ovechkin’s pursuit while also preparing for the playoffs.
Washington is 3-6-1 in the last 10 games, a span in which it clinched both the Metropolitan Division and the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The Capitals have been outscored 19-7 while dropping three of the last four games, including April 6 when Ovechkin broke Gretzky’s record by scoring his 895th NHL goal in a 4-1 loss to the Islanders.
“Obviously, it’s not ideal,” Capitals right winger Tom Wilson said. “There’s been a lot going on. We don’t want to make excuses.”
The Capitals were outscored 11-1 over the weekend by the Blue Jackets, though Ovechkin didn’t play Saturday before scoring Sunday for the first time since collecting the record-breaker.
“We have two games to go, but we understand what we’re trying to set ourselves up for,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “That’s the real objective.”
Any hopes the Islanders (35-33-12, 82 points) had of squeaking into the playoffs as the second wild card and drawing the Capitals in the first round ended Saturday, when New York was eliminated from postseason contention with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
But the Islanders, who will miss the playoffs for just the second time in the last seven seasons, took some solace in Sunday’s win, which was highlighted by Sorokin’s surprise return to the lineup.
The goalie suffered a lower-body injury in a 7-6 overtime loss to the Nashville Predators on April 8 and missed the next two games, during which backups Marcus Hogberg and Tristan Lennox gave up 13 goals in consecutive defeats.
Sorokin was rarely threatened Sunday while earning his first shutout since Jan. 30 and the 22nd of his career, which is tied for the second-most in franchise history with Hall of Famer Billy Smith.
“He could have easily mailed it in for the season after we lost the last game,” said Islanders center Bo Horvat, who scored the lone goal in the final minute of the second period. “It just shows the type of person he is, player he is, teammate he is, to come and play what is kind of a meaningless game for both sides.”
–Field Level Media
