The Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils find themselves at opposite ends of the standings as the two Metropolitan Division rivals play their final game before the NHL All Star break Thursday night at the Prudential Center.

Sitting atop not only the division, but the entire National Hockey League, the Capitals (32-10-6) are in contention for a second consecutive President's Trophy. They own a league-best plus-51 goal differential, have allowed the fewest goals of any team (104), and are 12-1-2 in their past 15 games.

Meanwhile, the Devils (20-20-9) are tied for last place in both the division and Eastern Conference with the fifth fewest points in the league, and are desperately trying to avoid a fifth straight year out of the playoffs. The Devils have scored only 111 goals, third fewest in the NHL.

First Period

• 2:36 WSH Brett Connolly; Assists: Andre Burakovsky, Brooks Orpik
• 19:01 WSH Jay Beagle; Assists: Brooks Orpik, Daniel Winnik

Second Period

• 6:53 NJD Kyle Palmieri (unassisted) 
• 11:05 WSH T.J. Oshie; Assists: Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin
• 11:38 WSH Alex Ovechkin; Assists: Matt Niskanen, T.J. Oshie

The Devils finish off a home-and-home series with the Capitals on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Prudential Center.

According to STATS...

• Washington lost, 2-1 in a shootout, versus New Jersey on Thursday. The Capitals have killed off 27 of the last 28 opponent power plays (over the last 8 games).
• New Jersey beat Washington, 2-1 in a shootout, on Thursday despite being outshot 44-27. The victory snapped a six-game road losing streak (0-5-1) for New Jersey.

NEW YORK -- Like thousands of workers in offices around the country, the New York Islanders have a big task ahead of them upon returning to work from the holiday break.

The Islanders will look to resume their long climb back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture Tuesday night, when they host the Washington Capitals at Barclays Center. It will be one of 10 games as the NHL resumes play following a three-day break for the holidays.

Both the Islanders and Capitals won their final game before the break on Friday, when New York cruised past the Buffalo Sabres 5-1, while Washington blanked the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0.

The Islanders face off against the Capitals on Tuesday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

According to STATS:

• The Islanders had their six-game point streak snapped with a 6-2 loss in Columbus on Saturday. New York allowed four goals in the third period for the first time since March 25 at Tampa Bay.
• The Capitals won their fourth game in a row with Sunday's 3-0 shutout over the Canucks. It was Washington's third shutout at home this season, tied with Chicago and Montreal for the most in the NHL.

NEW YORK -- A lopsided loss Saturday night reminded the New York Islanders just how far they are from seriously contending for an Eastern Conference playoff berth. The Washington Capitals can make the task even tougher for the Islanders on Tuesday night, when the Metropolitan Division rivals meet at Barclays Center.

The Islanders' point streak was snapped at six games Saturday, when they gave up four unanswered goals in the third period of a 6-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Capitals extended their winning streak to four games -- and their point streak to five games -- Sunday with a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks.

"I think we seem to be trending in the right direction," Capitals right winger Justin Williams told the team's website. "We've won four in a row, but we've played better in every game we've won so far."

The Islanders (8-10-4) head to Washington D.C. to face off against the Capitals (13-6-2) on Thursday night.

According to STATS:

• New York lost a 3-0 third-period lead, but came back to score two times in the last 27 seconds of the game to beat the Penguins, 5-3, last night at Barclays Center. The Islanders have now won back-to-back games for just the second time of the season (also October 21-23).
• Washington dropped a 4-2 decision in Toronto last Saturday night, snapping its two-game win streak in the process. The Caps are 4-1-0 in their last five tilts at Verizon Center, outscoring opponents by a combined 17-8 in those contests.

WASHINGTON -- The New York Islanders avoided a disastrous defeat Wednesday night and now have a chance to notch their first three-game winning streak of the season.

The Islanders (8-10-4) squandered a 3-0 third-period lead before Anders Lee scored with 26.6 seconds left and Nikolay Kulemin added an empty netter three seconds later to give New York a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

After beating the Penguins, who are second in the Metropolitan Division, the last-place Islanders travel to Washington Thursday for their first meeting of the season with the Capitals (13-6-2), who are tied for third.

The Islanders (0-1) go for their first win of the season as they take on the rival Capitals (0-0-1) in Washington on Saturday night. According to STATS...The Islanders snapped their four-game losing streak versus Washington by beating the Capitals, 4-3, in overtime on the road in early April of last season. The win also snapped New York's three-game road losing streak versus Washington, and the Islanders' four goals scored in that game were their most on the road versus the Capitals since November 11, 2009 (lost, 5-4, in a shootout).

Islanders forward Mathew Barzal will make his NHL debut Saturday night against the Capitals, head coach Jack Capuano told Newsday's Arthur Staple. Barzal, 19, will take the place of forward Anthony Beauvillier, who played in his first professional game against the Rangers. Barzal is also expected to play on the team's top power-play unit.

The Capitals defeated the Islanders, 2-1, at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut on Saturday night. 

First Period 

• Nate Schmidt (13:54, PPG) 

Second Period 

Antti Raanta made 32 saves while subbing for the injured Henrik Lundqvist and Derek Stepan scored as the New York Rangers bounced back from a loss in Pittsburgh to beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 Friday night.

Raanta was pressed into starting duty after Lundqvist was ruled out because of neck spasms. He was stellar against the NHL's top team, helping the Rangers extend their streak of not losing consecutive games that dates to mid-December.

Jesper Fast and Keith Yandle also scored for the Rangers against Braden Holtby, who made 20 saves. Jay Beagle and T.J. Oshie had the Capitals' goals in the first game between the teams since New York acquired Eric Staal at the trade deadline. >> Read more...

T.J. Oshie and Alex Ovechkin scored in the shootout, and the Washington Capitals tied the game late and beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on Saturday.

Paul Carey, who was called up from the minors Friday, had tied the score in the third period with his first NHL goal.

Andre Burakovsky scored in his fifth straight game for Washington and Braden Holtby made 22 saves in winning his league-high 32nd game.

With Alex Ovechkin back in tow, the Washington Capitals appear poised to resume their winning ways.

The visiting Capitals can build on their latest victory with a fifth consecutive win over the New Jersey Devils, who should have their No. 1 goaltender available Saturday.

Back from his one-game suspension for missing last weekend's All-Star festivities, Ovechkin scored the tiebreaking goal with 2:40 left in regulation to give Washington (36-9-4) a 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday.

Justin Williams had a hat trick and the Washington Capitals survived the loss of starting goaltender Braden Holtby to extend their impressive streak of responding after losses by beating the New York Rangers 5-2 Sunday night.

The Capitals improved to 10-0-1 after a loss this season and this time did so after Holtby left with dehydration. Philipp Grubauer replaced Holtby late in the second period and stopped all 11 shots he faced.

Holtby made 20 saves and got the victory, less than 24 hours after he was pulled during a clunker of a loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

The Islanders got off to a poor start against the league-leading Washington Capitals, but it looked like they were about to dig out of it. That is, however, until their fate turned late in the second period.

Brock Nelson scored just under two minutes into the second to cut the Caps' lead to 2-1. Then, shortly after the Isles killed off a high-sticking call on Kyle Okposo, Tom Wilson was sent to the box for unsportsmanlike conduct with just over seven minutes to go in the stanza.

The Isles inundated Braden Holtby with a flurry of shots, but Holtby turned them all aside and Washington killed off the power play. Just six seconds after Wilson left the box and the sides were even, Nate Schmidt blasted a slap shot from just inside the blue line past Jaro Halak to give Washington a 3-1 lead.

Monday's game was far from thrilling, but once again it gave us another look into what the team will be like once these games finally count. So here are a few things we learned:

A few regulars are getting the night off, but the Islanders will field a pretty competitive roster in Brooklyn. Among the forwards on the ice will be Brock Nelson, Frans Nielsen, Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey. Highlighting the defense is Marek Zidlicky, Calvin de Haan and Thomas Hickey.

The Islanders were headed back to Long Island regardless of the outcome of Monday night's Game 7, but they were all hoping to be returning home as the victors instead of having their season end sooner than they wanted. They also wanted to extend their stay at Nassau Coliseum just one round longer.

They battled back in the third period -- something they've done so many times throughout the regular season -- but the battle tested Capitals just had more in the tank and came away on top.

It was a crushing end to a series that produced so many memories for the Islanders and the fan base as they gave the Nassau Coliseum one last hurrah before the move west to Brooklyn. Getting back to the Coliseum to play more hockey was the team's goal and they were disappointed they could not do that.

"We wanted tot get back home," Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said. "The theme that they have at the Coliseum, with the jumbotron and the music and the chants, we actually played that before the game. So [the fans] were definitely in our thoughts. We wanted to get back there."

There could be history made, or an all too familiar story repeated, when the final buzzer sounds in Game 7 of the Isles Stanley Cup Playoff matchup with the Washington Capitals. The Islanders haven't won a playoff series in 23 years. They have made it to the postseason since then, but making it out of the first round has not happened since 1993.

"This is the biggest game that I've been in since I've been here," Kyle Okposo said. "Biggest game for the Islanders in a long time. We're excited and we don't really think about the history of it. You just think about the moment and the opportunity that you have in front of you."

The Islanders -- down three defenseman due to injury -- defeated the Washington Capitals 3-1 to even the opening round series of the Stanley Cup playoffs at 3 and force a Game 7 Monday in Washington. Nikolay Kulemin scored the game-winner at 10:33 of the third period off a wacky set of circumstance that led to the Islander forward getting an 1-on-1 chance.

John Tavares entered the zone and tried to split two defenders, but the puck got sent into the corner. The Islanders captain went in to try to play the puck and was steamrolled by Alexander Ovechkin and was down on the ice. While the focus was on Tavares, the puck squirted to Nick Leddy, who fed Kulemin all alone in front of the net.

The Islanders are trying to stave off elimination this afternoon, when the Capitals visit Nassau Coliseum for Game 6 of the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Head coach Jack Capuano will make a few lineup changes for the critical game. Matt Donovan will play on the team's banged up blue line, and Ryan Pulock or Scott Mayfield will also enter the lineup. Calvin de Haan, who left Thursday's game in the third period, will be scratched and Griffin Reinhart will also sit.

The increased security comes in the wake of alleged incidents of Islanders fans mistreating Capitals fans during Game 3 and reports that fans stole seats from the building.

Nassau County Police have already said they will be adding additional uniformed and plain clothes officers around the arena, along with officers on horseback.

The Islanders trail their best-of-seven playoff series with the Washington Capitals three games to two after being badly outplayed in a?5-1 loss in Game 5 Thursday night. Now the series shifts back to Long Island for what could be the last time the Islanders skate on Nassau Coliseum ice.

The team understands the significance of the situation and Thomas Hickey said they won't have a similar performance to the one in?Game 5.

Instead, the Capitals got the best of the Islanders, winning by the score of 5-1 in front of a raucous Verizon Center crowd and sending the series back to Long Island with the Isles trailing 3-2. The visitors played a physical first period, before the Capitals took over and controlled the rest of the contest.

"You can break the game down any way you, but if you don't manage the puck you're not going to win. That's the biggest story of tonight's game. It's the turnovers," Islanders Head Coach Jack Capuano said.

But that's exactly what happened 5:48 into the first period of the game. Lee and Wilson got tangled up near the Capitals bench and then the gloves were off.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUgmhXxa1TU]

The Islanders were still fuming over the events of Game 4 during Wednesday's practice on Long Island, but the team now has to turn their attention to beating the Capitals and returning to Uniondale with a series lead. The Isles will have to try to deal with the loss of Lubomir Visnovsky, who is out indefinitely after Tuesday's hit by Tom Wilson, according to Newsday. Islanders' Head Coach Jack Capuano is choosing between Griffin Reinhart and Ryan Pulock to fill the void. Both players will take part in warmups before a decision is made.

The visiting Islanders will have a player return to the lineup, as well. Mikhail Grabovski will?appear in his first game since February 19 against the Nashville Predators. Capuano was not sure who would come out of the lineup, but reports suggest that Brock Nelson will be scratched tonight.

In Game 4, John Tavares found himself stick-less as Washington Capitals' forward Nicklas Backstrom scored in overtime to tie the best-of-seven game series at two. Tavares snapped his stick during?a face-off in the Islanders zone and Backstrom -- cognizant that Tavares didn't have a stick -- shot and scored.

"I've never seen anything like it, to be honest with you. It's the third goal now with a broken stick," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "We're all in good position, everybody has good position... [Backstrom] is a smart player and he recognized that Johnny didn't have his stick. When he did he got a puck to the net and it hit off a player, and it goes in the back of the net.

The questionable hit occurred 5:54 into the second period as the Islanders' defenseman was trying to play the puck behind his own net. Visnovsky did not have full control of the puck and Wilson caught him in the face with his shoulder as he came flying in for the hit. Wilson was given a two-minute charging penalty and Visnovsky left the game and did not return.

"He's an idiot," Okposo said, referring to Wilson. "The guy runs around and he just hits reckless. He leaves his feet and there's no place for that."

Now with Game 4 on deck, the Islanders will look to move ahead to a commanding 3-1 lead over the Capitals in the series. Here are three keys for the Isles to win tonight's game:

Feed off Fans Energy

"It's a good sign our guys are eager and they want to get back at," Islanders' Coach Jack Capuano said. "We had a ?good teaching day yesterday and certain guys skated. Today was a spirited pre-game skate, as it should be in our building."

Lineup decisions have yet to be made by the Islanders coaching staff, but Jaroslav Halak will be in net for the fourth game of the series. It would be hard to imagine that the coaching staff will make any drastic changes to the Isles' lineup after playing so well in Game 3, when they won in overtime 2-1.

Braden Holtby will start in net for Game 3 after missing the previous game due to illness. Isles' Coach Jack Capuano said that Jaroslav Halak will be back in net at Nassau Coliseum. Tyler Kennedy will take the spot of Michael Grabner in the Islanders' lineup.

So it came as a bit of a surprise when things looked the same as they did in Game 2.

"That's because you guys were all here," Capuano jokingly said when asked about the practice lines. The fact the lines remained the same doesn't necessarily mean that things won't change at game time on Sunday.

The Islanders skated as staff dressed the arena seats with orange rally towels and several Washington Capital players navigated themselves through the lower bowl as they headed to the visitors dressing room. Back on on Long Island preparing for Game 3 on Sunday, the Isles appeared to have moved on from a tough defeat in Washington on Friday.

"I think we know the situation and we've done a good job all year of moving forward," John Tavares said. "That's what we have to do, especially in a playoff series. We're looking forward to being at home."

New York leads the series 1-0 after beating the Capitals 4-1 in Game 1 on Wednesday. Ryan Strome, Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson scored their first career playoff goals in the victory. Marcus Johansson was the lone Washington goal scorer on Wednesday.

Jaroslav Halak will be the Islanders starter once again and?Philipp Grubauer will start in Braden Holtby's place for the Capitals. Holtby did not take part in morning skate because he was not feeling well. Washington will have Tom Wilson back in their lineup for tonight's game. The Islanders lineup is unclear, since head coach Jack Capuano did not make any announcements regarding his lineup for tonight.

There was some speculation that Holtby would not play when the Capitals called up Philipp Grubauer from AHL Hershey and Holtby did not take part in the team's skate this morning. Capitals' Coach Barry Trotz said that he does expect Holtby to start, despite not feeling well.

"He?s been under the weather since Game 1 and we just felt the best chance for us is to get him through warmup and go from there,? Trotz said to CSNWashington.com. ?When you?re not feeling well there?s no sense hurting yourself any more."

Jaroslav Halak will start in net after a strong 24-save performance on Wednesday night. The Islander goaltender had a .960 save percentage in that game.

Outside of the starting goaltender the lineup is still a mystery, but with that being said it would be strange to see many changes from the lineup that appeared in Game 1. The Islanders played one of their most complete games of the season in the 4-1 victory.

Jaroslav Halak will be back in net to open up the series against Washington. He is 2-0 against the Capitals this season. Braden Holtby will start between the pipes for the Caps. He is 41-20-10 this season in 72 regular season appearances, with a 2.22 goals against average and .923 save percentage.

Head coach Jack Capuano did not give much of an update on the lineup up when he addressed reporters this?Morning in Annapolis, Maryland. The defensemen that appeared in Saturday's regular season finale will appear in tonight's contest. For Calvin de Haan, it will be his NHL playoff debut. Anders Lee and Ryan Strome will also be making their debut in the postseason.

The Washington Capitals have one of the deadliest players in the National Hockey league, Alexander Ovechkin, and the league's top ranked power play unit. The Islanders are no pushovers, however, and they have shown that throughout the regular season. Here are three keys that will help secure the Islanders a victory in Game 1.

Containing the Washington Power Play

The Islanders are underdogs headed into their opening round series against the Washington Capitals. Head coach Jack Capuano knows that, and he's perfectly fine with it.

"Everybody is picking Washington," he told Newsday. "I like being the underdog . . . They look at the brackets and the people on TV -- the TV's running every morning seeing who they're picking. For us, we might be the underdog, but I'm stressing how good of a team they are. We finished with 101 points for a reason."

The Islanders and Capitals split the season series 2-2, with each team winning in their home building. The Islanders are 2-2-2 in their last six visits to the Verizon Center and are 9-7 in 16 road playoff games against the Capitals.

The visiting Isles may have fallen to the Washington Capitals 3-2 in the shootout ? which is only the second time this year that they have lost in one ? but it was as gratifying?a point as they were going to get. The Islanders rallied late in the third period to even the game at 2, which enabled them to leave snowy Washington D.C. with a point in the standings.

"That was a great game." Islanders' head coach Jack Capuano said afterwards. "We had 18, close to 20 shots in the third, I really liked the things that we did and it would have been unfortunate to not walk out of here with at least a point. Our guys battled, Chad [Johnson] played well, and penalty kill came up big when it had to."