Capitals 2 - 3 Islanders
Final - OT
  for this game

Caps hope to slow down Islanders

Nov 26, 2014 - 4:02 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Washington Capitals will try to slow down the red- hot New York Islanders when the Metropolitan Division rivals meet Wednesday night at Nassau Coliseum.

The Islanders have won four straight and nine of their last 10 games and enter tonight's home test tied with Pittsburgh for first place in the Metro. New York swept a home-and-home series against the Penguins with wins on Friday and Saturday, and followed with Tuesday's shootout decision over Philadelphia.

New York earned a road shootout win over Pittsburgh on Friday and began a three-game homestand with a 4-1 triumph over the Pens on the following night. Tuesday's 1-0 victory over the Flyers pushed the Isles to 6-1-0 within the division and 9-3-0 against Eastern Conference opponents.

The Capitals will try to become only the second divisional opponent to beat the Isles this season, following Pittsburgh's 3-1 win over New York on Oct. 18. Washington has claimed four of the past five meetings with the Islanders overall and has won nine of the last 11 matchups at the Coliseum.

Wednesday's test is thes this season.

The Maple Leafs dropped a pair of home games to the Penguins earlier this season and have lost four in a row to the club overall. Toronto also has lost five of its past six in Pittsburgh.

The Pens aim to sweep the season series and earn a second straight victory after beating the Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime on Monday. Evgeni Malkin netted his second goal of the game just 32 seconds into overtime.

Malkin skated to the top of the right circle and one-timed a cross-ice feed from Sidney Crosby through the pads of Tuukka Rask for his second goal of the game.

Crosby assisted on both of Malkin's goals and added a goal to move into a tie for the NHL lead with 29 points. Malkin is fourth withsome great chemistry when they're out there 4-on-4, and they're dangerous on the rush as you saw," said Pittsburgh head coach Mike Johnston.

Marc-Andre Fleury earned his 300th career win with a 27-save performance, becoming the third-fastest goaltender to reach the milestone. He did so in 547 games, behind only Jacques Plante (521) and Andy Moog (543), and only Martin Brodeur (29 years, 223 days) and Terry Sawchuck (29 years, 323 days) did so at a younger age than Fleury (29 years, 361 days).

Fleury's effort helped the Pens rebound after they were swept in a home-and- home set by the New York Islanders. They won for the 11th time in 14 games overall.

Fleury is 15-9-3 with a 3.10 goals against average and .892 save percentage in 29 career games versus the Leafs, including 26 starts.

Bernier has never beaten Pittsburgh, going 0-3-1 with a 3.48 GAA and .912 save percentage in four meetings.






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