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Sputtering Capitals and Islanders face off

Oct 18, 2007 - 2:00 PM NY Islanders (3-3-0) at Washington (3-2-0) 7:00 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Only one team can snap out of its rut when the Washington Capitals host the New York Islanders on Thursday.

Both teams started the season well, but have hit a lull, having each dropped two straight decisions.

The Islanders, who won two straight to open the season, are coming off a disheartening 3-1 loss to Philadelphia on Saturday in which they outshot the Flyers, 15-6, in the third period.

New York's problems can be traced to the recent struggles of its top line. Mike Comrie, Bill Guerin and Ruslan Fedotenko have combined for just one goal in the last four games after working together for five in the first two games.

One thing is for sure, goaltending has not been the problem. The Islanders, who have lost three of four overall, have been getting solid play out of Rick DiPietro, who stopped 20 of 22 shots in Saturday's loss. He owns a sparkling 2.22 goals-against average thus far.

New York may have the upperhand in the matchup since it has an 8-2-1 record over the last 11 meetings. Prior to that stretch, the Islanders had lost 28 of the previous 29 meetings.

One of the reasons the Islanders had struggled so much in the past against Washington has been netminder Olaf Kolzig. Kolzig stopped 30 shots in a 2-1 win on October 8 to improve his record to 26-9-0 over New York, the most wins he has against any team.

Kolzig has been on top of his game this season, posting a 1.35 GAA, good for second in the league.

The Capitals won three straight games to open the season, but has been outshot, 91-54, in dropping their last two, including a 7-3 loss at Buffalo on Saturday. Washington surrendered 53 shots in that latest setback.