Hendrix Lapierre scored a goal and assisted on Joel Edmundson’s first of the season, Dylan Strome had the overtime winner on the power play and the Washington Capitals beat the New York Islanders 3-2 Wednesday night for a second consecutive victory.
The trio of Lapierre, Aliaksei Protas and Anthony Mantha was the Capitals’ best line all game, pinning the Islanders in their own end on numerous shifts and scoring on two of them. Lapierre, back in the NHL after a stint in the minors, was only centering it because Connor McMichael was a late scratch with an illness.
Strome scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season 1:41 into 3-on-3 overtime, and Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves to propel Washington to a fourth win in six games. Strome’s goal stood up to a video review for a high stick.
Alex Ovechkin set up Strome’s goal. Ovechkin’s career-worst goal drought reached 14 games, but his team is still 7-5-2 during this stretch thanks to scoring depth and an infusion of youth.
The Capitals got a big dose of that with the return of Lapierre, 21, and the NHL debut of 19-year-old Ivan Miroshnichenko, their 2022 first-round pick. Miroshnichenko, who was diagnosed with and beat Hodgkin lymphoma last year, took a solo lap at the start of warmups and skated on the third line with Matthew Phillips and fellow Russian Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Edmundson, the defenseman acquired in the offseason for size and depth who was sidelined when he broke his right hand in a training camp scrimmage, is not known for his offense, but he still got a shot through from the point to score for the first time in 28 games. Edmundson’s goal was his first since March 13.
The Islanders were playing on the second of back-to-back nights and looked like it at times. Backup Semyon Varlamov was solid in stopping 33 of the 36 shots he faced. Hudson Fasching scored early in the second period and captain Anders Lee tied it with eight minutes left in regulation to help New York pick up a point.
The Islanders were without Julien Gauthier, after the forward was injured Tuesday against Edmonton. Oliver Wahlstrom replaced him, playing in his first game since Dec. 2.
