WASHINGTON — Bo Horvat apologized before the game for a comment that sounded like a dig against his former team. All of the Islanders should be saying sorry for a weak effort against the depleted, playing-out-the-string Capitals in a game that may keep them out of the playoffs.
At the very least, the Islanders lost the ability to control their playoff fate with an abysmally-played 5-2 loss on Monday night at Capital One Arena as the Capitals snapped a six-game losing streak.
“We worked really hard this season to be in the position where we can control our own destiny,” Hudson Fasching said before the Islanders allowed two goals in the opening 63 seconds and three goals in the first period.
The Islanders (41-31-9) conclude the season on Wednesday night against the also-ran Canadiens at UBS Arena. The Penguins can now clinch one of the Eastern Conference’s two wild-card spots with wins over Chicago on Tuesday and the Blue Jackets on Thursday. Both opponents have long been eliminated from playoff contention.
The Panthers lost to the visiting Maple Leafs 2-1 in overtime, leaving them in the first wild-card spot. The Islanders are one point back, still in the second wild-card spot. For now.
The out-of-contention Capitals (35-36-9), who won three of four against the Islanders this season, were playing without Alex Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie, Nic Dowd, Anthony Mantha and defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk, all injured. They could only dress 17 skaters instead of the usual 18 because of salary-cap constraints.
But the Capitals’ Darcy Kuemper made 38 saves, his shutout bid spoiled by Fasching at 14:52 of the third period. Tom Wilson made it 4-1 with an empty-netter at 15:44 but Casey Cizikas cut the deficit to two goals at 16:43 with the Islanders skating six-on-five. Dylan Strome capped the scoring with a second empty-netter.
Ilya Sorokin, shaky to start but able to keep the deficit at three goals over the final 40 minutes, made 20 saves.
Dylan Strome, beating Sorokin to the short side from the right circle, made it 1-0 just 36 seconds into the first period. Defenseman Rasmus Sandin, from the left circle, scored a second goal at 1:03 on a shot that Sorokin just missed. Craig Smith, cutting toward the crease as the Islanders couldn’t get a stick on a puck off the backboards, made it 3-0 at 13:13.
The Islanders top defensive pairing of Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock was on the ice for all three goals. Horvat’s line with Anders Lee and Simon Holmstrom were out for the second two.
But the really disappointing part was it wasn’t even a one-sided period. Kuemper made two saves in tight on Lee at 4:43 and turned aside Kyle Palmieri as he got to the crease at 9:26. Pierre Engvall hit the post at 9:45 and Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s shot hit the post after ticking off Kuemper’s glove at 11:53.
Before the game, Horvat clarified his comment to MSG Networks’ Shannon Hogan when asked during an on-ice interview following Saturday night’s 4-0 win over the visiting about the experience of playing in front of the Islanders’ fans.
“It’s been unbelievable,” Horvat, acquired from the Canucks on Jan. 30, said with the interview being heard through the arena. “It’s a lot better than Vancouver, I’ll tell you that for free.”
“It was kind of a heat of the moment thing where I didn’t mean any disrespect to the fans of Vancouver, or my teammates or the city of Vancouver,” Horvat said on Monday.
The Canucks have long been out of playoff contention.
“I really enjoyed my time in Vancouver. I’m sorry if it offended anybody.”
