UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The standings said it was a battle for first place in the East Division between two teams tied for that distinction with 62 points.
But the real importance of Thursday night’s Capitals-Islanders game at Nassau Coliseum — and the two more ahead between them in the coming days — was playoff seedings to come, and how crucial home ice could be.
That is because the Islanders have been a powerhouse at home all season, defying logic in a COVID-19-shaped season with limited travel and limited capacity for on-site fans.
Entering the game, they were 19-2-2 at home and 10-11-2 on the road.
Make that 19-2-3. After three scoreless periods and overtime, the Capitals won a shootout, 2-1, when Evgeny Kuznetsov beat Semyon Varlamov in the third round.
So the Capitals now have a one-point lead stop the division.
The Islanders got their first power play when Lars Eller was called for tripping Nick Leddy with 11:00 minutes left in regulation time and mostly sputtered. But Capitals goalie Ilya Samsonov did make a big pad save on Kyle Palmieri.
With 8:11 left, Alex Ovechkin was called for tripping Brock Nelson, but again the Isles came up empty.
The night began with a surprise from Islanders coach Barry Trotz, who made recently acquired forward Travis Zajac a surprise healthy scratch. Leo Komarov joined Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle on the top line.
The Islanders dominated the scoreless first period, picking up where they left off in a 6-1 rout of the Rangers on Tuesday. They recorded the game’s first eight shots on goal and had several excellent scoring chances.
The first came only a minute into the game, when Samsonov made a big save on Palmieri. There was more where that came from, including an excellent chance for Anthony Beauvillier off the rebound of Ryan Pulock’s blast.
After surviving a Caps power play, the Islanders had one last moment in the period, when with about 1:30 left Barzal came in alone on Samsonov, who saved both the initial shot and a rebound chance.
Washington began to show signs of life early in the second, but Varlamov was up to the task. He has started all six games against the Capitals this season.
Twice in the final minutes of the scoreless second the Islanders killed penalties, at which point the Capitals’ powerful man-advantage unit had totaled only two shots on three power plays.
What is the reason for the Islanders’ home-ice success this season? No one really knows.
"I think everyone in the locker room likes playing at the Coli," Michael Dal Colle said before the game. "There’s so much history there, and ever since I came in my first stint [in 2018], we’ve just seemed to play really well in that building.
"So it’s carried over to this year, and like I said everyone enjoys playing there and we seem to play really well. Hopefully, we can keep that trend going."
Palmieri, a longtime Coliseum visitor until being acquired in a trade with the Devils earlier this month, said, "It’s incredible. Obviously, a record like that speaks for itself.
"I think playing here as a visiting team, I always had an appreciation for the atmosphere at the Coliseum, and now being here as part of the Islanders, it’s been incredible."
The top four teams in the East Division are tightly bunched, so seedings are up for grabs. If the Islanders finish in second place, they can secure a home-ice edge at least for the first round. If they finish first, they will have it through the first two rounds.
Before Thursday, the Islanders had won both games between the teams on Long Island, and the Capitals had won all three in Washington. The Isles play the Caps at the Coliseum on Saturday and then in D.C. on Tuesday.
