NEW YORK (AP) The Washington Capitals – particularly T.J. Oshie – were grateful to get a high-scoring win.Oshie scored twice Detroit Red Wings Hoodies Authentic , Dmitry Orlov and Nicklas Backstrom each had a goal and two assists, and the first-place Capitals beat the reeling New York Islanders 7-3 Thursday night.”I’ve been working hard lately, trying to get my game going,” said Oshie, who hadn’t scored since Jan 31, a span of 19 games. ”It felt nice. But more importantly it was good to get a team win with scoring up and down the lineup.”It was the first time this season the Capitals had scored seven times and their three-game winning streak is their first since early January. They remained tied with Pittsburgh atop the Metropolitan Division, but currently hold the tiebreaker with two games in hand.Andrei Burakovsky added a goal and an assist Detroit Red Wings Hats Authentic , and Lars Eller and John Carlson also scored to help Washington improve to 10-4-3 in its last 17 games against the Islanders. Evgeny Kuznetsov had three assists and Philipp Grubauer finished with 35 saves for his 11th win of the season.”We capitalized on some opportunities and Gruby was really strong tonight,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. ”And we had little bit of luck.”Brock Nelson, Andrew Ladd and Ryan Pulock scored for the Islanders, who lost for the ninth time in 10 games.Christopher Gibson started and gave up five goals on 12 shots before he was pulled midway through the second period. Jaroslav Halak came on and finished with eight saves.Despite the lopsided result, Islanders coach Doug Weight was somehow satisfied with his team’s effort.”We played pretty well. We had some good chances,” he said. ”The guys kept working and shooting.”Orlov gave the Capitals a 3-2 lead with 2:43 left in the first as he beat Gibson for his ninth of the season.Burakovsky extended Washington’s lead at 3:12 of the second, and Backstrom made it 5-2 with his 18th with 9:38 remaining in the middle period Custom Detroit Red Wings Jerseys , ending Gibson’s night.Carlson got his 13th with 4:19 left in the third to give the Capitals a four-goal lead.Pulock got the Islanders to 6-3 just 52 seconds later, but Oshie scored an empty-netter for his second of the night and 14th of the season with just under two minutes to go.The Islanders were coming off a 5-2 win at Calgary on Sunday night that snapped their eight-game skid (0-4-4) with Gibson making 50 saves. However, their defensive struggles returned against the Capitals.The Islanders have allowed a league-high 252 goals and are 15-23-8 since finishing November at 15-7-2. They will almost certainly miss the playoffs for the second straight year and the third time in five years.New York has won only one playoff series – in 2016 – in the nine-year career of their captain John Tavares, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July.Weight replaced Jack Capuano behind the bench midway through last season and the Islanders surged to finish with 94 points, narrowly missing the postseason.But their play has been haphazard this season and amid their most recent swoon – especially at home – their season is on the ropes. They are 4-10-1 at Barclays Center starting with a Jan. 2 loss against Boston.Nelson opened the scoring at 2:19 of the first as he took a pass from rookie Tanner Fritz while skating down the slot before beating Grubauer for his 16th.Eller tied it at 10:19 with his 16th before Oshie scored at 11:29 to put the Capitals ahead 2-1.Ladd tied the score 2-2 at 12:29 when he scored his 10th. Rookie Mathew Barzal got his team-leading 52nd assist on the play.NOTES: Washington is 26-12-5 against Eastern Conference opponents this season. … The Islanders on Thursday signed forward Scott Eansor to a two-year, two-way contract. The 21-year-old Eansor has 16 goals for AHL Bridgeport this season. He was a teammate of Barzal with the junior Seattle Thunderbirds previously. … The Islanders scratched D Dennis Seidenberg, D Sebastian Aho and F Chris Wagner. … Washington scratched D Christian Djoos www.officialoilers.com , F Alex Chiasson and F Travis Boyd.UP NEXTCapitals: Host the Islanders on Friday.Islanders: At Washington on Friday. ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Daniel Sprong didn’t waste time making a positive first impression on the Anaheim Ducks.The 21-year-old right wing, acquired from Pittsburgh on Monday, scored in his Ducks debut Wednesday night as Anaheim stretched its winning streak to five with a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.“It’s a new opportunity. I was excited for it. I wanted to come out hot,” Sprong said. “I’m a shooter and I wanted to start off early putting pucks on net and getting chances.”Sprong gave Anaheim a 2-0 lead six minutes into the first when he beat Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford top shelf with a shot at a sharp angle that just went over Crawford’s shoulder.Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle was pleased with Sprong’s performance despite having only one practice with the club.“The shot is a welcome sight because it looks he can he can provide some offense if he continues to shoot the puck like that,” Carlyle said. “He’s still got to learn our system, but he acquitted himself very well tonight.”Brandon Montour Edmonton Oilers T-Shirts Authentic , Ondrej Kase and Jakob Silfverberg also scored for the Ducks, who have matched Toronto for the longest active winning streak in the league.“You could tell in the first period we were playing with a lot of confidence. That comes from building off earlier games knowing that we are playing real good right now. We have to keep it going,” Silfverberg said.Erik Gustafsson and Alex DeBrincat scored in the second period, and Corey Crawford stopped 28 shots for the Blackhawks, who have dropped five straight and seven of eight.Chicago is 3-9-2 under Jeremy Colliton, who replaced Joel Quenneville on Nov. 6.“I thought the second period was excellent,” Colliton said. “I don’t think they’re better than us Edmonton Oilers Hoodies Authentic , just the puck went in the net. Frustrating.”Montour put the Ducks on the board 20 seconds before Sprong’s goal with a 54-foot wrist shot that got past a screened Crawford for his third of the season. The Ducks came into the game next-to-last in the NHL in first-period goals but scored a pair in the first 20 minutes for only the third time this season.“Just finding ways. We feel good about ourselves. We’re a work in progress but has confidence they have success in any buildingGustafsson put the Blackhawks on the board seven minutes into the second when he took Duncan Keith’s pass in the right faceoff circle and beat Gibson with a slap shot for his fifth. DeBrincat then tied it with 28 seconds remaining in the period when he took a feed from Jonathan Toews and put it into the net for his 11th.Kase took back the lead for Anaheim four minutes into the third when he took Carter Rowley’s pass off the boards and fired a shot from the right circle for his fourth in the past nine games. Silfverberg then put it out of reach with an open-net goal late in the third for his sixth.NOTES: The teams have split their two games this season. Their last meeting will be Feb. 27 in Anaheim. … Kase, who has a point in seven of the last eight games, has eight career game-winning goals. … Anaheim C Adam Henrique extended his points streak to six straight games with an assist on Sprong’s goal. He has a goal and five assists in that span. … RW Pontus Aberg has three goals and two assists in the last three games. … DeBrincat has eight points (four goals, four assists) in five appearances against the Ducks.UP NEXTBlackhawks: Travel to Vegas for their second meeting this season against the Golden Knights on Thursday night.Ducks: Continue their four-game homestand against Carolina on Friday.
