WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin made NHL history with career goal No. 767, helping to likely extinguish any (extremely) slim playoff hopes the Islanders may have harbored.
The Islanders needed a regulation win, plain and simple. Instead, they lost a 4-3, eight-round shootout to fall 19 points behind the Capitals for the Eastern Conference’s final wild-card spot.
It denied the Islanders (24-24-9), now 1-6 in shootouts, their first four-game winning streak of the season. But Semyon Varlamov’s 29 save performance, including brilliant saves on defenseman Justin Schultz, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ovechkin in overtime, was a good showcase in advance of Monday’s NHL trade deadline.
Ovechkin moved past Jaromir Jagr for third place on the NHL’s all-time list, lifting a shot to make it 3-2 at 15:02 of the third period. But captain Anders Lee, with the Islanders skating six-on-five, tied it at 18:01.
Vitek Vanecek also made 29 saves for the Capitals (33-18-10).
Anthony Mantha, who made it 1-0 at 12:21 of the first period, scored the decisive shootout goal.
Re-entering the playoff race is now even more of a longshot, making it much more likely president and general manager Lou Lamoriello opts to be a seller in advance of Monday’s NHL trade deadline.
Which means Varlamov could soon be tending another team’s net with several playoff contenders needing goaltending help. Varlamov’s four-year, $20 million contract runs through next season and Lamoriello could determine his trade value is higher now, with some contenders unsettled in net, than it will be in the offseason.
Ilya Sorokin, seven years younger than his fellow Russian, is in the first season of a three-year, $12 million deal and has been used more as the No. 1 goalie. Varlamov’s $5 million salary-cap charge is too pricey for a backup.
Varlamov had little chance as the Capitals tied it at 2 at 10:13 of the third period, with defenseman Dmitry Orlov feeding Axel Jonsson-Fjallby off a rush. Oliver Wahlstrom’s blast then hit the short-side post at 14:12, the Islanders’ second unlucky encounter with iron. Brock Nelson hit both posts from below the right circle at 13:17 of the second period.
Nelson had tied the game at 1 at 4:55 of the second period, getting to the rebound of defenseman Zdeno Chara’s shot from the left point. Capitals coach Peter Laviolette unsuccessfully challenged that Anders Lee had interfered with Vanecek.
The Islanders also were on the winning side of their own challenge in the second period as defenseman Justin Schultz’s apparent goal at 14:06 was overturned after coach Barry Trotz successfully challenged that Evgeny Kuznetsov was offsides.
Kyle Palmieri then gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 17:02 of the second period, getting to the crease for Josh Bailey’s feed after Bailey deftly stickhandled through traffic.
Varlamov kept the deficit at one goal two minutes after Mantha’s goal as he slid to his left to stop Kuznetsov at the post. Vanecek then kept the Islanders off the board with 20 seconds left in the first period, stopping Anthony Beauvillier’s backhander at the post.
