Washington Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin (38) celebrates after his goal with center Joe Snively (91), center Craig Smith (16) and others during the first period of an NHL game against the New York Islanders on Monday in Washington.
AP photo
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New York Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau shoots the puck during the first period of an NHL game against the Washington Capitals on Monday in Washington.
AP photo
New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin skates towards the bench after an NHL game against the Washington Capitals on Monday in Washington. The Capitals won 5-2.
AP photo
WASHINGTON — Shaking their heads in the aftermath of a baffling defeat to a team out of contention, New York Islanders players lacked the answers to explain the inexplicable.
What captain Anders Lee called a “horrible” start led to two goals in 63 seconds and another before the end of the first period, and the Islanders couldn’t climb out of the hole they dug. The result was a 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on Monday night that deals a significant blow to their playoff chances, which they no longer control with one game left to play.
“That is disappointing when you’re in a spot where you win a couple and you’re in,” veteran winger Zach Parise said. “Now we need help, so hopefully we get it.”
New York trails Florida by one point in the standings after the Panthers lost in overtime to Toronto on a goal by former Islanders captain John Tavares. Pittsburgh is one point back but has two games left against the two worst teams in the NHL, Tuesday against Chicago and Thursday at Columbus, while the Panthers have one remaining.
Ilya Sorokin allowed goals to Dylan Strome, Rasmus Sandin and Craig Smith on the first nine shots he faced before settling in, but the Vezina Trophy candidate for the league’s top goaltender was far from the biggest problem for the Islanders and settled in to make 20 saves. Skaters in front of him lost Strome on his first goal and turned the puck over several times to give the Capitals quality scoring chances.
“It’s tough to explain,” coach Lane Lambert said. “We made some mistakes right off the hop. We made some mistakes, we gave it to them, we lost a faceoff, they scored. Tripped over our own stick. Some errors were made.”
Washington was in a giving mood, too, playing out the string after an eight-year playoff streak came to an end, but Darcy Kuemper repeatedly turned aside shots from point-blank range after some inexplicable turnovers. He allowed late goals to Hudson Fasching and Casey Cizikas in the final six minutes and finished with 38 saves.
“I thought their goalie played really well,” Cizikas said. “He made some big saves, and (Sorokin) did an unbelievable job of keeping that game in reach for us to at least give us a chance to maybe have a push or a comeback. Tough, though.”
Despite missing Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie and playing a skater short with 17 for a third consecutive game, the Capitals snapped their losing streak at six and handed New York a third loss in the past five. Strome and Tom Wilson each scored an empty-netter, with Strome setting a career high with 23 goals.
“You saw a lot of character,” Kuemper said. “We’re not going to roll over. We’re going to play hard.”
The Islanders played hard, and Parise took issue with the concept of he and his teammates lacking urgency. But forward Brock Nelson said there was probably not enough intensity at the start, and it put them in a difficult spot that’s even more precarious now heading into the final game of the season.
“We just got to make sure we’re ready,” Cizikas said. “We have to know what’s at stake, and we have to know what we’re playing for.
STARS 6, RED WINGS 1
DETROIT — Joe Pavelski scored to reach 1,000 career points, Roope Hintz had a goal and three assists and Dallas beat Detroit.
Pavelski, playing in his 1,248th game, became the 10th American-born player to reach the milestone when he tipped Miro Heiskanen’s shot from the point. The Stars, who have won four straight, tied idle Colorado for the Central Division lead with two games remaining.
Jason Robertson had a goal and two assists, and Esa Lindell, Ty Dellandrea and Jamie Benn also scored for the Stars. Jake Oettinger and Scott Wedgewood combined for 19 saves.
David Perron scored for the Red Wings, who were playing their home finale. Ville Husso, was replaced by Magnus Hellberg after giving up three goals in 12:10.
MAPLE LEAFS 2, PANTHERS 1, OT
SUNRISE, Fla. — John Tavares scored with 21.3 seconds remaining in overtime and Toronto snapped Florida’s six-game winning streak.
Auston Matthews also scored for the Maple Leafs, netting his 40th of the season. Ilya Samsonov made 45 saves.
Brandon Montour scored for Florida and tied the franchise record for goals by a defenseman in a season with his 16th. Goalie Alex Lyon made 23 saves and lost for the first time in seven straight starts in place of Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Panthers managed to gain a point and moved closer to a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Florida has gone 6-0-1 since losing in Ottawa on March 27.
JETS 6, SHARKS 2
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Josh Morrissey had a goal and two assists as Winnipeg moved closer toward securing a playoff berth.
Adam Lowry, Mason Appleton, Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and assist, and Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored for the Jets. Nino Niederreiter and Dylan DeMelo each had two assists. Connor Hellebuyck made 19 saves in his 12th consecutive start as Winnipeg finished a five-game homestand 4-1-0.
The Jets now have 93 points and can clinch the Western Conference’s final wild card berth by gaining at least a point in their final two games.
Erik Karlsson scored twice for San Jose, giving him 100 points this season. He’s the first NHL defenseman to reach that mark since the New York Rangers’ Brian Leetch in 1991-92. James Reimer stopped 27 shots.
SENATORS 3, HURRICANES 2
OTTAWA, Ontario — Claude Giroux had two goals and an assist to reach 1,000 career points to lead Ottawa.
Giroux became the 96th player to achieve the milestone. The 35-year-old entered the game needing two points to hit the momentous marker and took less than one period to make it happen.
Giroux picked up point 999 with his 33rd goal of the season just after the five-minute mark and number 1,000 came on an assist when he set up Tim Stutzle with under three minutes remaining in the period. Giroux scored his second of the night midway through the third to give Ottawa a 3-2 lead, and the win, tying his career-high of 34 set in 2017-18.
Mads Sogaard saved 27 to ensure the victory.
Brett Pesce and Brent Burns scored for Carolina, and Frederik Andersen finished with 29 saves.
SABRES 3, RANGERS 2, SO
NEW YORK — Casey Mittelstadt scored the tying goal in the third period and got the deciding goal in the shootout to lead Buffalo.
JJ Peterka also scored for the Sabres and rookie Devon Levi made 26 saves to beat the Rangers for the second time in 11 days. The Sabres are 7-1-1 in their last nine games to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. The victory also gave Buffalo 40 wins in a season for the first time since the team won 43 games in 2010- 11.
Artemi Panarin scored twice for New York and Igor Shesterkin finished with 37 saves. Rangers have earned points in six straight games (3-0-3) and nine of their last 10 (6-1-3). New York pulled two points behind first-place Carolina in the Metropolitan Division and one behind second-place New Jersey. The Hurricanes and Devils both have two games remaining, and the Rangers have one.