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Following their dismal 5–0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday afternoon at Little Caesars Arena, Detroit Red Wings team captain Dylan Larkin said he and his teammates intended to come to Denver for the rematch with something to prove.

The result on Monday evening was one of Detroit's gutsiest victories of the season, as they returned the favor against the Avalanche, shutting them out by a 2-0 final score at Ball Arena. 

#REDWINGS WIN IN COLORADO!!! pic.twitter.com/De9oXriKpL

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 3, 2026

It also marks Detroit's first regulation victory over the Avalanche since 2017 at Joe Louis Arena. 

The Red Wings found the back of the net right from the get-go, as Marco Kasper scored his sixth goal of the season just 33 seconds into the game after successfully converting a two-on-one rush with Lucas Raymond.

Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. 

With Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood pulled for an extra attacker late in the third period, Lucas Raymond sealed the victory by scoring into the vacated net for his 19th goal of the season. 

Kasper's early first-period goal was all the offense Red Wings goaltender John Gibson, who was pulled after 40 minutes on Saturday, needed to work with. He stopped all 21 shots the Avalanche fired his way, picking up his fourth shutout of the season. 

It's the most shutouts Gibson has posted in a season since he had four during the 2017-18 campaign, while still with the Anaheim Ducks. 

Detroit’s victory earned two crucial points in the standings, keeping them in second place in the Atlantic Division.

They trail the first-place Tampa Bay Lightning by just two points, while the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres remain uncomfortably close in the rearview mirror.

Detroit has just one game remaining on Wednesday evening before the schedule takes a multi-week break for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The Red Wings will make just their second-ever appearance at Delta Center in Salt Lake City to face the Utah Mammoth; they won't play again until Feb. 26 against the Ottawa Senators. 

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CHICAGO - The Chicago Blackhawks ended the pre-Olympic break portion of their home schedule on Monday night with a match against the San Jose Sharks at the United Center. 

Coming into the game, the San Jose Sharks were the only NHL team that the Blackhawks had yet to play. For the next decade, Macklin Celebrini vs Connor Bedard will highlight this matchup, but there is a lot of talent on both sides. 

In the first period, Bedard kicked off the scoring with his 23rd of the season. This goal ended a 0-26 stretch on the power play that spanned multiple weeks. Bedard now has goals in three straight games. He is heating up after a slow return from his injury.

By the end of the period, the Blackhawks had a 1-0 lead and only allowed the San Jose Sharks one shot on goal. 

The second period was significantly more eventful. Connor Murphy, Ryan Donato, and Sam Rinzel scored three unanswered goals to make it 4-1. 

The Sharks eventually got one when Celebrini set up Will Smith with a beautiful pass through the goal crease. Less than one minute after, however, Ilya Mikheyev took the momentum right back when he made it 5-1. 

San Jose wouldn't go quietly into the night, however, as Celebrini scored a goal of his own to get the Sharks back within three. That 5-2 score held through the second intermission. 

In the third period, Shakir Mukhamadullin was set up for a nice backhand goal by former Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev. San Jose getting within two made them believe that they could get it tied. They tilted the ice in a big way during the third period. 

Despite their pure domination during the final frame, the Sharks had one bad play that led to Ryan Donato's second goal of the game (fourth point). The 6-3 score stood as the final in favor of the Blackhawks. 

A key role in the victory, despite all the goals and breaking through on the power play, was the penalty kill. 

San Jose went 0-4 with the man-advantage. They made some nice plays, but good sticks, solid positioning, top-notch instincts, and a few good saves by Spencer Knight allowed the Hawks to kill four straight penalties. They are up to 85.6%, which leads the league by over one full percent. 

This is a big win for the young Blackhawks. They are still pretty far below the playoff line, but after a handful of losses in a row, they needed a win for morale. There is a long break coming up, and they'd like to enter it feeling good about themselves. 

Watch Every Chicago Goal

make that 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞-𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 with a goal for Bedsy 🚨 pic.twitter.com/SUnfMjldl0

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 3, 2026

#𝟱 was right on time⏰ pic.twitter.com/RkllDP2Jz8

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 3, 2026

signed, sealed, 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙🫡 pic.twitter.com/CN8IQ5wVM9

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 3, 2026

Sam said '𝙎𝙃𝙊𝙒𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀'🤩 pic.twitter.com/px8OkdOizx

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 3, 2026

it's a party🥳 pic.twitter.com/jg9BXePvfV

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 3, 2026

Ryan's 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 goal of the night,
makes it 𝗦𝗜𝗫 for the team👏 pic.twitter.com/Wq0CwH2Gos

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 3, 2026

What’s Next For The Blackhawks?

The Blackhawks are back in action on Wednesday night when they pay a visit to Ohio to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets. This will be Chicago's last game before they break for the Olympics. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

With only two more games left before the Olympic break, the Colorado Avalanche hoped to spark a win streak to end this first half of the season, with the 4-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings as a catalyst. Well, the exact opposite happened, and with the power play continuing to get worse each game, the Avalanche got a taste of their own medicine, being shut out at home, with a 2-0 loss.

Period 1:

The Red Wings don’t waste any time as they come out early with a 2-on-1 opportunity, and it's Lucas Raymond from Marco Kasper to open the scoring, 1-0. Mason Appleton gets called for delay of game as he sends the puck over the glass, and the Avalanche gets their first power play of the night.

Though their power-play struggles continue, this unit looks nowhere near as good as it did back in Detroit. The first period did not look great for the Avalanche, as they were outshot 8-5, with Detroit getting a lot of offensive zone time and the Avalanche not generating much.

Period 2:

The second period wasn’t any better for both teams as a whole. Sam Malinski is called for tripping, and Taylor Makar is called for hooking, but the Avalanche continue to do a good job on the penalty kill and negate both penalties.

The Red Wings were able to adjust as the period went on, the Avalanche werent able to, and it showed. Missed passes, shots going wide on the net, and MacKenzie Blackwood having to come up with big saves to keep it within a one-goal game. Come the end of the period, the Avalanche were outshot 15-4 in the period, matching a season low in shots in the second period.

Period 3:

Albert Johansson called for tripping, but the Avalanche just can’t get anything going on the man-advantage. Blackwood is doing everything he can to keep the Avalanche in the game, including robbing Andrew Copp on the doorstep, as it was set up with Alex DeBrincat getting away from Clae Makar across the boards.

Mackenzie Blackwood...highway robbery on Andrew Copp. What a save.#avs@thehockeynews#lgrw#goavsgo

— Ryan O'Hara (@OHaraSports) February 3, 2026

Blackwood is pulled with 2:30 remaining in the period, and Reymond finds the empty net to close the game off at 2-0. With this loss, this is the first time the Avalanche have been shut out this season. For the Red Wings, this is their first regulation win against the Avalanche since March 18, 2017.

The Avalanche face the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday, Feb 4, in their final game before the Olympic break.

Nathan MacKinnon Sparks Fury Among Red Wings FansHow dare Nathan MacKinnon defend a teammate.

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Jason Zucker broke a tie on a power play at 5:31 of the third period and he Buffalo Sabres beat the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers 5-3 on Monday night.

The Sabres have won six of seven and took over the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference standings. They hold a 10-point lead over the Panthers. Florida, which has lost four straight, trails Boston by nine for the final playoff position with 27 games remaining.

Peyton Krebs had a goal and an two assists for the Sabres. Tage Thompson, Zach Benson, and Josh Doan also scored for Buffalo, with Rasmus Dahlin had two assists. Alex Lyon, who has won 11 of his past 12 starts, made 38 saves.

Sandis Vilmanis, Evan Rodrigues, and Uvis Balinskis scored for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky made 15 saves.

SENATORS 3, PENGUINS 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Claude Giroux scored with just over five minutes remaining in the third period and Ottawa beat Pittsburgh.

Giroux skated in on goal, was tripped by Erik Karlsson and went hard into the post. The net lifted off its moorings, but officials determined the puck crossed the line first at 14:52.

Giroux, a longtime Philadelphia Flyer, tied Alex Ovechkin for the most points against Pittsburgh by an active player. He has 23 goals and 78 points in 72 games against the Penguins.

Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle scored in his third straight game and Michael Amadio scored his first goal since Dec. 11 at Columbus. Stutzle has four goals in his last five games.

Linus Ullmark made 14 saves for the Senators, who won their fourth straight game. Ottawa has points in nine of its last 11 games overall. Ullmark joined Tony Esposito and Bob Froese as the only goalies in NHL history to win each of their first eight games against Pittsburgh.

Tommy Novak scored for Pittsburgh, and Egor Chinakhov added a goal and an assist. Chinakhov has seven goals in 16 games with Pittsburgh since he was traded from Columbus. Evgeni Malkin continued a six-game point streak with an assist.

CAPITALS 4, ISLANDERS 1

WASHINGTON (AP) — Martin Fehervary and Anthony Beauvillier scored 31 seconds apart in the second period, and Washington beat New York.

Clay Stevenson won his second straight game in goal for the Capitals, who pulled within two points of the Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division. Stevenson has been forced into action with Washington’s top two goalies — Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren — both injured.

This was Stevenson’s third NHL game.

Nic Dowd also scored for the Capitals in his 500th game with the franchise. John Carlson scored into an empty net with 2:25 to play on a shot that traveled almost the entire length of the ice.

New York led 1-0 after one period on a goal by Mathew Barzal. Tom Wilson’s errant pass from the corner in his own zone ended up on Barzal’s stick right in front of the net.

WILD 4, CANADIENS 3, OT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov scored his second goal of the game on a power play at 3:38 of overtime to give Minnesota a victory over Montreal.

Minnesota got the power play when Phillip Danault hooked Kaprizov in front of the goal. Kaprizov took a feed from Quinn Hughes and fired a shot past Jakub Dobes from the high slot for his 32nd goal of the season.

Joel Eriksson Ek and Brock Faber also scored, and Hughes had three assists to reach 50 for the season. Filip Gustavsson made 17 saves.

Faber tied it at 3 at 7:05 of the third, racing onto the puck down the right side for a quick shot. Quinn assisted on the goal.

Hughes assisted on Kaprizov’s first goal to tie the Russian’s team-record assists streak at nine and push his franchise-record points streak for defenseman to nine. Kaprizov had assists in nine straight games in 2022-23.

PREDATORS 6, BLUES 5

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Steven Stamkos scored twice in the third period to help Nashville rally for a victory over St. Louis.

Ryan O’Reilly also scored twice and Michael McCarron and Filip Forsberg added goals for Nashville. The Predators scored five straight goals to erase a four-goal deficit and win their second straight.

Earlier Monday, Predators general manger Barry Trotz announced his impending retirement. Trotz, who succeeded inaugural general manager David Poile in July of 2023, will stay in the position until his successor can be hired.

Pavel Buchnevich scored twice and Jake Neighbours, Philip Broberg, and Colton Parayko also scored for St. Louis, losers of seven of eight. Joel Hofer made 22 saves, and Jorday Kyrou had three assists.

BLACKHAWKS 6, SHARKS 3

CHICAGO (AP) — Ryan Donato had two goals and two assists, and Chicago beat the San Jose.

Ilya Mikheyev added a goal and three assists in Chicago’s final home game before the Olympic break. Connor Bedard, Connor Murphy and Sam Rinzel also scored, and Spencer Knight made 25 saves.

The Blackhawks had lost five in a row. They improved to 3-6-2 in their last 11 games.

Macklin Celebrini had a goal and an assist for San Jose, which dropped to 1-2-1 on a five-game trip. Will Smith and Shakir Mukhamadullin also scored.

STARS 4, JETS 3, OT

DALLAS (AP) — Thomas Harley scored at 2:05 of overtime, and the Dallas Stars matched their longest winning streak of the season at five games with a 4-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night.

The goal came moments after Jake Oettinger made a pad save on Mark Schiefele’s breakaway in a matchup of the top two goalies for Team USA in the second-to-last game before the break for the Milan Cortina Olympics. Oettinger and expected U.S. starter Connor Hellbuyck each stopped 24 shots.

Mikko Rantanen put Dallas ahead 3-2 with 7:43 left in regulation on a weaving play through two defenders, but Logan Stanley got the Jets even on a 6-on-5 goal with 1:43 to go.

Jason Robertson had his 199th career goal and team-leading 31st this season and Nils Lundkvist scored as the Stars won their 18th one-goal game, tying the New York Islanders for the NHL lead.

Gabriel Vilardi and Cole Perfetti had a goal and an assist apiece for the Jets, and Scheifele had two assists.

RED WINGS 2, AVALANCHE 0

DENVER (AP) — John Gibson stopped 21 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and Lucas Raymond scored and had his team-leading 41st assist as Detroit beat Colorado.

Gibson improved to 22-11-2 with his 28th career shutout, which was Colorado’s first since Feb. 4, 2025, ending a run of 87 consecutive games with at least a goal.

Detroit was 0-14-1 in its previous 15 games against Colorado entering Monday, including a 5-0 home loss two days earlier in which Gibson allowed four goals on 17 shots.

After being shut out on Sunday, the Red Wings scored 33 seconds into the first period, with Raymond finding a wide-open Marco Kasper on an odd-man rush.

It was the third time in the past nine games Kasper has scored after he was held without a goal in 44 of his previous 45 games. Prior to his assist, Raymond had gone three consecutive games without a point, his longest pointless stretch of the season.

Raymond scored his 19th goal of the season into an empty net with 30 seconds remaining.

MAMMOTH 6, CANUCKS 2

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Nick Schmaltz had his second hat trick of the season and added two assists for a five-point game in Utah's victory over Vancouver.

Schmaltz had his third career NHL hat trick to push his season goals total to 22, one shy of his career high set with Arizona in 2021-22.

JJ Peterka scored his 20th of the season, John Marino had a goal and two assists and Mikhail Sergachev also scored to help Utah end a two-game losing streak. Karel Vejmelka made 21 saves.

Schmaltz scored twice in the first as Utah took a 2-1 lead. In the second, Sergachev connected on a power play and Marino and Peterka pushed the advantage to 5-1. Schmaltz completed the hat trick with 7:38 left in the third, scoring off a feed from Clayton Keller on a break.

Liam Ohgren and Teddy Blueger scored for Vancouver. Kevin Lankinen stopped 14 shots.

MAPLE LEAFS 4, FLAMES 2

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — William Nylander scored on a breakaway 35 seconds into the game and added two assists that helped Toronto beat Calgary.

Matias Maccelli and defenseman Troy Stecher also scored as the Maple Leafs won their second straight following a six-game losing streak. Toronto halted an 0-5-1 slide by winning 3-2 in a shootout Saturday at Vancouver.

Bobby McMann’s empty-net goal sealed it with 25 seconds remaining. Joseph Woll made 28 saves, improving to 5-0-0 against Calgary.

Toronto has won eight in a row versus the Flames, its longest active streak against any team.

Nazem Kadri and Joel Farabee each had a goal and an assist for the struggling Flames, who have dropped six of seven. They snapped a five-game skid (0-3-2) with a 3-2 victory Saturday against San Jose when Farabee scored a short-handed goal to break a third-period tie.

Dustin Wolf stopped 18 shots.

Lately, it's been pretty easy to write serenades about the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have had their way with most of the teams they have played.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case on Monday.

The Ottawa Senators came to Pittsburgh and defeated the Penguins, 3-2, to snap the team's six-game win streak. Pittsburgh has now won just two of their last 11 games against the Senators, who didn't give them much to work with the entire game. 

Through two periods, the Penguins had just 10 shots on goal to the Senators' 23, and they never really found a way to get to the hard-forechecking and possession game that has made them so successful lately. Ottawa was shutting them down in the neutral zone, and the Penguins had a hard time breaking out of their own zone. 

"They jammed it up in the middle," forward Noel Acciari said. "We struggled getting out of our zone and getting in their zone. And the simple play was, tonight, just get it behind them and try and forecheck. But, it wasn't our best tonight.

"Ten shots over two periods is not going to win games, but we know we've got better, and it's a quick turnaround for tomorrow."

Out of the gate, the Penguins were pretty lethargic, and they were outworked from the jump. However, that didn't stop Evgeni Malkin from, once again, connecting with fellow Russian Egor Chinakhov, who was breaking through the slot. Chinakhov finished the play for his 10th of the season and seventh goal as a Penguin to put Pittsburgh in front, 1-0, early on. 

Egor Chinakhov strikes AGAIN 😮

He now has seven goals since joining the @penguins! pic.twitter.com/GCU6JeEHN3

— NHL (@NHL) February 3, 2026

But, from there, the Penguins ran into some penalty trouble - which threw off their game - and the Senators pretty muc controlled all the momentum despite the goal. Michael Amadio tied the game from the slot just a minute and a half into the second period, and - miraculously - the score remained that way until the third because of the work of Penguins' goaltender Arturs Silovs, who was outstanding throughout this game. 

With a little more than 13 minutes to go in regulation, a bad change by defenseman Erik Karlsson led to a breakaway opportunity for Tim Stutzle, who capitalized for his 26th of the season to put Ottawa on top, 2-1. Two minutes later, Tommy Novak tied things up with a garbage goal at the net front, and the Penguins were still hanging on.

However - with just over five to go - Claude Giroux received a pass from Stutzle and crashed into the Silovs as Silovs stopped the initial shot attempt. However, the puck trickled into the net in the aftermath, and it was called a good goal on the ice. The Penguins challenged for goaltender interference on the play, but they lost the challenge and ultimately lost the game, 3-2. 

G💰 leaving it all out on the ice for the good guys tonight 💪#GoSensGopic.twitter.com/cIJSoCd9La

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) February 3, 2026

Silovs - who stopped 28 of 31 shots on the evening - did not agree with the ruling.

"I don't know. For me, it doesn't make sense," Silovs said. "He came in, I stopped the puck, and then the second... he goes like 25 miles [per hour] going down. Like, what do you expect me to do? I don't understand how they think, whether they're protecting players or not, especially for goalies... I don't understand this rule.

"Like, what's the position there? I would understand if it goes straightaway in, then I would agree with the call. But, it's a second effort, so I don't really agree with the call."

'Every Line's Able To Bring Some Offense': Penguins' Quick-Strike Offense Key To Success This SeasonThe Pittsburgh Penguins are winning a lot of hockey games this season - and it starts with the team's ability to keep piling on offense

Here are some thoughts and takeaways from this 3-2 loss:

- Honestly? There's not really much to say about this one. This is a bad matchup for the Penguins, and this team just has their number. They were never, at any point, the better team in this game, and it showed in the end result. 

And, honestly? The end result indicated a closer game than it actually was. 

Look, losing this one isn't the end of the world. Maybe this opinion is unpopular, but when you win a lot of hockey games, a team almost earns the luxury of having a dud here and there. It's been happening frequently lately to the best team in the league in the Colorado Avalanche, as they have lost three of their last eight games by a score of 7-3 against the Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, and Montreal Canadiens.

This is one that you lock away in a box and leave. The Penguins need their best Tuesday against the New York Islanders - who lost to the Washington Capitals, 4-1, on Monday - and I expect a response, especially after seeing how much head coach Dan Muse was seething after the game. 

How Three Key Free-Agent Additions Are Paying Huge Dividends For The Penguins The Penguins were busy in free agency over the summer, and three of the players they brought in have been fantastic.

- Silovs was truly magnificent in this game, and I think it was one of his best as a Penguin.

He made a ton of key saves early, and throughout the year, the early parts of games is where he has struggled the most. But he was dialed in all night long, and he was the only reason this game was as close as it was. 

His teammates owe him a very fancy steak dinner after this one.

Arturs Silovs stretches across for the acrobatic save! 👏 pic.twitter.com/3VcZYFoitz

— NHL (@NHL) February 3, 2026

- Chinakhov continues to make me wonder what the Columbus Blue Jackets were thinking. This guy just has such great instincts on top of having a 99th percentile shot in this league.

And, if I'm the Penguins, he's out there in six-on-five situations and on the first power play unit. There's no sense in not having the guy with the best shot on your team - and some of the best offensive instincts - out there in almost every key offensive situation. 

What a player this guy has been for the Penguins and for Malkin. 

- Speaking of the power play, it was another rough one for them, even if they only got one opportunity in the latter half of the third period. It's just one of its last 16, and there isn't really anything going right on that unit right now. 

A switch-up in personnel may be in order, but honestly? I just think it comes down to more player movement and quicker, more decisive puck movement. The Penguins are also overpassing right now and not getting nearly enough pucks - or bodies - to the net. 

Revisiting The Top-Five Moments Of The 2016 Stanley Cup Championship RunPrior to their game on Saturday against the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers">New York Rangers</a>, the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/">Pittsburgh Penguins</a> celebrated their 2016 Stanley Cup champion team, as 2026 marks the 10th anniversary of the championship run.

- This was a disaster of a game for every Penguin not named Silovs in general, but boy, was this a dud from Karlsson.

Karlsson has been one of the Penguins' best players all season long, but he struggles against his former team. He doesn't not have a goal against the Senators in his career, and he is a minus-5 - which doesn't account for that bad change. 

Not a good game from the blue line in general, but he stood out in particular. 

- The top line is not functioning well for the Penguins right now. This four-game stretch for Sidney Crosby has been rough - he has just one point in the last four games - and without Bryan Rust, they haven't been able to generate anything, as Justin Brazeau doesn't look like a fit there. 

If Rust wasn't returning Tuesday, I think a look for Rutger McGroarty with Crosby and Rickard Rakell would be warranted. But, with Rust set to return against the Isles, it's probably a moot point. 

Still, even with Rust in the fold before his suspension, something has been off. It's nice that the Penguins are getting secondary scoring, but at some point, the top line needs to produce at its customary rate again if the Penguins want to continue winning down the stretch run of the season.

Erik Karlsson Hits Career Milestone On SaturdayErik Karlsson notched his 700th assist during Saturday's game.

Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!  

After falling into a 5-1 hole in the second period, the Nashville Predators scored five unanswered goals for a miraculous comeback victory over the St. Louis Blues, 6-5 on Monday at Bridgestone Arena. 

It ties the franchise record for the largest comeback in the game, four goals, set in a 7-5 win over the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 21, 2025, when Nashville also came back after going down 5-1. 

Steven Stamkos scored the game-tying and game-winning goal in the third period. 

The Predators were down by just a goal at the end of the first period, with Ryan O'Reilly recording his first tally of the night on the power play.

However, in the first four minutes of the second period, the Blues scored three unanswered goals, two of which came just 30 seconds apart.

KEEP 'EM COMING BOYS! pic.twitter.com/J61bHMJvx7

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) February 3, 2026

The early second-period barrage saw the Predators pull Juuse Saros for Justus Annunen after Saros allowed five goals on 21 shots. 

The Predators began to turn things around near the end of the second as Michael McCarron and Filip Forsberg scored to make it a two-goal game. Forsberg now has four goals in three games. 

In the third, O'Reilly netted his second of the night to cut the Blues' lead down to a goal. Stamkos took over, scoring twice to tie the game and give the Predators the lead. The second goal was his ninth game-winning goal of the season. 

While they didn't score, Roman Josi had four assists and Luke Evangelista had three assists. Josi is riding a red-hot scoring streak, with 37 points in 42 games. 

Nashville was able to hang on for the final 10 minutes of the game for its 17th comeback win of the season. The Predators improve to 26-23-6 on the year and steal two points for 58 on the season. 

This story will be updated. 

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov scored his second goal of the game on a power play at 3:38 of overtime to give the Minnesota Wild a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night.

Minnesota got the power play when Phillip Danault hooked Kaprizov in front of the goal. Kaprizov took a feed from Quinn Hughes and fired a shot past Jakub Dobes from the high slot for his 32nd goal of the season.

Joel Eriksson Ek and Brock Faber also scored, and Hughes had three assists to reach 50 for the season. Filip Gustavsson made 17 saves.

Faber tied it at 3 at 7:05 of the third, racing onto the puck down the right side for a quick shot. Quinn assisted on the goal.

Hughes assisted on Kaprizov’s first goal to tie the Russian’s team-record assists streak at nine and push his franchise-record points streak for defenseman to nine. Kaprizov had assists in nine straight games in 2022-23.

Minnesota won its fourth straight, ending Montreal winning streak at three.

Brendan Gallagher, Ivan Demidov and Kirby Dach scored to give Montreal the lead after the Wild raced to a 2-0 advantage.

Dach put Montreal ahead 12 seconds into the third, knocking in Nick Suzuki’s feed. Gallagher started the comeback with 52 seconds left in the first, and Demidov tied it with 17 seconds to go in the second,

Eriksson Ek opened the scoring at 38 seconds of the first, firing a wrist shot from right circle. Kaprizov made it 2-0 with 4:12 left in the first, tipping in Quinn's feed.

Wild defenseman Daemon Hunt didn’t return after taking a puck to the throat in the first period.

Canadiens: At Winnipeg on Wednesday night in their final game before the Olympic break.

Wild: At Nashville on Wednesday night in their final game before the Olympic break.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

WASHINGTON — The parade of four-point games for the Islanders leading into the Olympic break started with a thud.

The Islanders rolled out new lines and new power-play units, but they produced the same disappearing forecheck and tailed off after the first period just like two nights earlier on Long Island. The result was a 4-1 defeat Monday night to the Capitals, who moved within two points of the Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

Over 56 games, themes have emerged on nights where the Islanders don’t have it going, and they hit nearly all of them Monday. Too many one-and-done chances off the rush and too little time holding the puck in the offensive zone. Nothing on the power play. A couple of messy plays around the front of the net. It’s familiar by now, though it’s more than a little alarming to see it happen two games in a row.

Afterward, the Islanders went to the refrain that they’d played well and had plenty of chances, and the advanced stats backed them. The stats, though, didn’t quite capture the way the wind went out of their sails once they went 2-1 down early in the second period.

“For some reason it affected us,” coach Patrick Roy said. “Is it because we had a few good chances, didn’t score on those? Maybe that affected us as well. We had a couple breakaways where we could’ve got back in that game and their goalie made some good saves.”

Tuesday’s home match against the Penguins, who sit two points above the Islanders in the standings after losing to Ottawa on Monday, feels particularly important now. The Islanders can only afford so much slippage before Friday, when the three-week Olympic break begins and the NHL gets a chance to take a deep breath.

The Islanders had tossed away a 1-0 lead in the second period of this one, but with the score sitting at 2-1 Washington entering the third, things were far from over.

After the Islanders killed off two consecutive penalties, it looked like they might even have a chance to seize some momentum.

Instead, the Caps made it 3-1 after Nic Dowd threw a puck at the crease, which pinged off Tony DeAngelo before finding the back of the net at 8:48 of the period.

The Islanders did eventually have a semblance of a push, but it didn’t come until Roy emptied his net with over five minutes to go. By then, it was too little and too late — and John Carlson’s empty-netter extended Washington’s lead to 4-1 before the Isles could make a game of it.

“I thought, honestly, we played pretty well,” Bo Horvat, who had a pair of breakaways and converted neither, told The Post. “I thought we carried the play pretty much the majority of the game. Had a couple breaks. Just unfortunate for us tonight.”

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NHL STANDINGS AND ISLANDERS STATS

Just like against the Predators on Saturday, the Islanders’ best moments of the game came at the start. That was when they were most active below the hashes, holding pucks in the zone and creating havoc. It paid off at 16:38 of the first when Tom Wilson’s pass from the corner went straight to Mathew Barzal’s stick, and Barzal promptly deposited the gift of a turnover into the Washington net.

The Capitals’ frustration didn’t last long though. Wilson fed Martin Fehérváry for the 1-1 goal 5:29 into the second with Aliaksei Protas screening, and just 31 seconds later, old friend Anthony Beauvillier took advantage of what looked like a complete breakdown around the net to stuff the puck in at the right post for a Washington lead.

In contrast, Roy was lamenting the lack of bodies toward the Capitals net, where Clay Stevenson was making just his third career NHL start.

“It’s on us to be better, get more around their net,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. “Try harder to get there.”

Again and again, Roy keeps changing the lines and again and again, the best Islanders trio is the only one staying intact: the fourth line of Marc Gatcomb, Casey Cizikas and Kyle MacLean.

The revamped top six that featured Barzal and Ondrej Palat on Bo Horvat’s wings with Jonathan Drouin centering Emil Heineman and Simon Holmstrom had its moments — enough of them for Roy to say he was happy with the lines after the game. Self-evidently, though, it wasn’t enough, and the same old problems aren’t going away for the Islanders.

Rather, it is more a question of whether they can work around them than whether they can solve them each night. If that doesn’t change soon, the Islanders won’t like the result.

In one month, the Rangers have spiraled from the thick of the playoff race to uncontested possession of the Eastern Conference basement, having won only three games since the final week of December.

They saw Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox go down with injuries.

They read Chris Drury’s latest letter.

They await the trade of Artemi Panarin.

It is a locker room filled with frustration, but also exuberance, attached to newly acquired defenseman Vincent Iorio.

After being waived for the second time in less than four months, the 23-year-old former second-round pick looked like there is nowhere he would rather be.

“Since I’ve been playing pro, I’ve gone through a lot of ups and downs, but for me, just continue to have that positive mindset and just be the happy-go-lucky kid that I am,” Iorio said Monday, following his first practice with the Rangers. “I pride myself on smiling, coming to the rink every day and being happy and I’m gonna continue to do the same thing here.

“I’m just grateful. My parents, growing up, they really preached the 1 percent better each day and being happy with where you’re at in life. For me, playing this game is such a privilege. Playing in this league is such a privilege. Especially a team like New York.

“I was obviously really excited. This is such a storied franchise.”

Iorio, who was claimed off waivers Saturday from San Jose, is a low-risk move for a team in transition, looking to get younger.

Taken 55th overall by Washington in 2021, Iorio spent the majority of his first two professional seasons in the AHL, appearing in 123 games with Hershey, but just 10 with the Capitals.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NHL STANDINGS AND RANGERS STATS

After being waived in October, the native of British Columbia appeared in 21 games with the Sharks, recording no goals, three assists and a minus-4 rating in 21 games.

“This team has such an amazing and skilled forward corps, so [I want to] distribute pucks to them and let them make plays,” Iorio said. “Just continue to play my game. I thought I did a good job with building on things in San Jose. I just [want] to break pucks out, play hard defensively, not try and do too much and just play simple.”

On Monday, the 6-foot-4 defenseman — who will be a restricted free agent after the season — saw his transition eased by the familiar faces of former teammates Braden Schneider (WHL) and Scott Morrow (Shattuck-St. Mary’s School).

Mike Sullivan saw potential.

“I thought he looked good today,” the Rangers coach said. “First time seeing him up close, he looks like he has decent puck skills, good size. I thought for the first practice, it’s not an easy thing just jumping into a brand new team like that, but I thought he executed pretty well in some of the drills that we were doing. Maybe the biggest thing that jumped out was maybe his ability to move the puck. That skill set will certainly help us.

“Obviously he’s young and has a lot of his career ahead of him. From that standpoint, it’s exciting when you can add younger players like that into the mix and we’ll see where it goes. He’s obviously a young guy that has been fairly sought after. I know his name has come up in a few discussions throughout the course of this season with our hockey operations and we’re looking forward to getting to know him and watching him up close.”

Third-string rookie goalie? No problem… for the Capitals. Clay Stevenson played just his second game this year, and while he didn’t get his first career shutout, he turned away 29 of 30 shots by the Islanders.

Bo Horvat still looks a bit rusty after missing some time due to injury; he had a lot of chances tonight but just was off the mark each time. Hopefully he’ll get on the board soon, since the power play could really use his shot.

It wasn’t a bad effort by the Islanders, but struggling to score more than one goal against this guy just isn’t going to cut it for a team that has some level of playoff ambitions.

[NHL Gamecenter | Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick]

Early, David Rittich made a save on Ryan Leonard and took some extra contact and went down. Nic Dowd was called for slashing Rittich, sending the Islanders to the power play. That power play was not great, despite Patrick Roy putting Mat Barzal, Bo Horvat, and Matthew Schaefer back together on PP1.

Schaefer took a holding penalty, and Horvat missed a shorthanded breakaway backhand, but the Islanders killed the penalty.

Rittich saved an Anthony Beauvillier breakaway, and then the Capitals gave the puck away to Barzal in the slot, and he made it 1-0 with his 15th of the season.

Ondrej Palat drew a slashing penalty on Tom Wilson with 19 seconds left in the period, and the Caps killed it in the second period. Palat, on PP1, nearly gave the puck away to Aliaksei Protas, but he couldn’t catch up to it.

Then, Martin Fehervary scored to tie the game, and just 30 seconds later, Beauvillier made it 2-1 quickly, two fairly soft goals given up by Rittich.

Bo Horvat shot wide on a breakaway chance and Simon Holmstrom hit the outside of the post, on the best opportunities to tie the game after the quick Capitals lead.

David Rittich made big saves on Wilson and Jakob Chychrun, and then Wilson laid a big open ice hit on Holmstrom, which got Scott Mayfield’s attention. Mayfield and Wilson fought, and Mayfield picked up an extra two minutes for “roughing” that seemed like a pseudo-instigator penalty even though Wilson was the one who dropped the gloves first after Mayfield came up to him.

Casey Cizikas had a good shorthanded chance on the kill, but with 10 seconds left, Carson Soucy took a high sticking penalty, giving the Capitals some 5 on 3 time and another power play.

After some dangerous moments, the Islanders killed both Mayfield and Soucy’s penalties. Any chance of a comeback seemed to deflate, though, when a Dowd pass bounced off Tony DeAngelo and past Rittich to make it 3-1.

Rittich was pulled for an extra skater with 5 minutes left, but John Carlson scored the empty netter with 2:25 left, giving the Capitals a 4-1 win.

Up Next

Tomorrow, the Islanders head back to UBS Arena to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins, who currently occupy the second seed in the Metro Division, two points ahead of the Islanders. Feels like a big one for the season as we approach the Olympic break!

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Jason Zucker broke a tie on a power play at 5:31 of the third period and he Buffalo Sabres beat the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers 5-3 on Monday night.

The Sabres have won six of seven and took over the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference standings. They hold a 10-point lead over the Panthers. Florida, which has lost four straight, trails Boston by nine for the final playoff position with 27 games remaining.

Peyton Krebs had a goal and an two assists for the Sabres. Tage Thompson, Zach Benson, and Josh Doan also scored for Buffalo, with Rasmus Dahlin had two assists. Alex Lyon, who has won 11 of his past 12 starts, made 38 saves.

Sandis Vilmanis, Evan Rodrigues, and Uvis Balinskis scored for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky made 15 saves.

The Panthers took a 2-0 lead early in the first period, but the Sabres scored the next three.

Florida, already playing without a number of its top forwards including captain Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand, lost center Sam Bennett to an upper-body injury.

Bennett left the game after the first and did not return.

The Panthers scored 37 seconds in on a goal from Vilmanis, with Rodrigues making it 2-0 at 5:56 of the period.

Buffalo scored the next two to tie the score going into the second, first off a long wrist shot from Thompson, then off a goal from Kreps in front off the rush.

The Sabres led 3-2 at 5:44 of the second when Bobrovsky came 15 feet out to play the puck. Only Ryan McLeod beat the Florida goalie to it, and he found Benson in the slot for the easy goal.

The Panthers tied it late in the second on a power-play goal from Balinskis, but Buffalo took the lead back on a power-play of its own at 5:31 of the third when Zucker scored off a blind feed from Doan. Doan ended the scoring with a goal off a pass from Krebs with 2:1:9 remaining.

Sabres: At Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.

Panthers: Host Boston on Wednesday night.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

WASHINGTON (AP) — Martin Fehervary and Anthony Beauvillier scored 31 seconds apart in the second period, and the Washington Capitals beat the New York Islanders 4-1 on Monday night.

Clay Stevenson won his second straight game in goal for the Capitals, who pulled within two points of the Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division. Stevenson has been forced into action with Washington’s top two goalies — Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren — both injured.

This was Stevenson’s third NHL game.

Nic Dowd also scored for the Capitals in his 500th game with the franchise. John Carlson scored into an empty net with 2:25 to play on a shot that traveled almost the entire length of the ice.

New York led 1-0 after one period on a goal by Mathew Barzal. Tom Wilson’s errant pass from the corner in his own zone ended up on Barzal’s stick right in front of the net.

Wilson made up for that in the second, feeding Fehervary on a give-and-go, and the Washington defenseman tied the game. It was the fourth goal of the season for Fehervary, who is on Slovakia’s roster for this month’s Olympics.

Less than a minute later, Beauvillier jammed the puck past Islanders goalie David Rittich to the short side.

Dowd scored in the third when he sent the puck across the goal mouth toward Alex Ovechkin and it bounced in off Islanders defenseman Tony DeAngelo.

The Capitals have won three straight after going nearly two months without consecutive victories. Washington has points in five of its last six.

Up next

Islanders: Host Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.

Capitals: Play at Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

The Florida Panthers are going through some hard times right now.

Desperate for every point they can get in the standings, Florida dropped their fourth straight game on Monday night in Sunrise, a 5-3 affair to the Buffalo Sabres.

It didn’t take long for Florida to pick up the game’s opening goal, and it came off the stick of rookie Sandis Vilmanis.

Earning a start along with Cole Schwindt and A.J. Greer, Vilmanis jumped on the rebound of a Niko Mikkola point shot that hit Greer in the backside, corralling the puck and wiring a wrist shot over Alex Lyon’s glove at the 37-second mark.

The Cats weren’t done there.

After Sam Reinhart forced a turnover deep in the Sabres’ zone, Evan Rodrigues’ cross-crease pass attempt deflected past Lyon and into the net, making it 2-0 Florida before the game hit its first TV timeout.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, the lead did not stick.

A pair of quick goals by Tage Thompson and Peyton Krebs brought Buffalo right back into the game after the first 20 minutes.

Buffalo took their first lead of the game immediately after killing off a delay of game penalty early in the second, with Zach Benson catching Sergei Bobrovsky out of position after taking a pass from Ryan McLeod, who had just come out of the penalty box and beat Bob to the puck in Florida’s zone.

Another power play for the Panthers would prove much more prosperous, with Reinhart finding Uvis Balinskis sneaking down from the point. His one-time snap shot beat Lyon over the glove, sending the game into the third period tied at three.

Buffalo took the lead back about five minutes into the final frame after an iffy hooking call on Cole Schwindt quickly led to the Sabres first power play goal of the game.

After a couple key penalty kills by Buffalo, they converted a 2-on-1 with just over two minutes to go to cement the victory for the visitors.

On to the Bruins.

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Photo caption: Feb 2, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Buffalo Sabres center Peyton Krebs (19) celebrates after scoring against the Florida Panthers during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

Pregame

The Penguins go with the same lineup as last game with a change in goalies back to Arturs Silovs.

The visiting Ottawa Senators get some good news in the form of Thomas Chabot (game-time decision) is able to dress for this game.

First period

Thought the Penguins were cutting corners and falling into some bad habits early. One example early was Ryan Shea in the opening minute attempting to go up the wall to a covered players. It got picked off and a nice Ottawa passing play nearly led to a goal (and probably should have if the placement was elevated to where it should have been). They got away with it, thanks to the play of Silovs in the first 5-10 minutes, following some cross-ice passes and good looks by the Senators after the Pens either flew the zone or just weren’t quite as connected with their positioning and/or decision making with the puck.

The Pens’ style pays off when Parker Wotherspoon is able to make one of those long passes up to Evgeni Malkin. Malkin puts a centering pass in an area with Egor Chinakhov can take one touch and shoot. When Chinakhov shoots, he shoots hard. This one low past Linus Ullmark, 1-0 Pens.

Rickard Rakell sideswipes Ullmark to take a goalie interference penalty in another avoidable little moment of not quite being super-sharp. The hot Pittsburgh PK kills it off.

Ilya Solovyov is the next to go to the penalty box for getting a stick up, another kill for the Penguins.

First period comes to a close, Ottawa is up 13-7 in shots, Pittsburgh carries a 1-0 lead where it counts. More in the thoughts section, didn’t like this start for the Pens. Silovs was very good and they’re fortunate to be ahead at this point.

Second period

The sloppy play continues, Malkin fumbles a puck in front of his net and hands it over to Michael Amadio. Amadio quickly puts the puck glove side on Silovs and in. 1-1 game.

Still not going well, Shea coughing the puck up leads to Parker Wotherspoon cross-checking a guy. The refs call it to send Ottawa to their third power play of the night. Another kill, though the Sens are getting more and more zone time and opportunities.

Lines have changed, Anthony Mantha joins the Crosby/Rakell group, Justin Brazeau goes to play with Kindel/McGroatry. The Penguins finally get their first shot of the period with just over nine minutes to go.

Solovyov breaks his stick and fails to clear the zone in the last minute, then Connor Clifton takes another cross-checking penalty for Ottawa’s fourth power play in the game, compared to the zero for the Penguins. The buzzer sounds before too much can happen.

It’s been a sludge for the Penguins tonight. Only three shots on goal in the second period and just 10 for the game. It’s a tie game after 40 minutes.

Third period

The Pens deal with the 91 seconds of carryover power play time. It takes until 13:14 remaining for Ottawa to take the lead. Shea fails to get the puck deep and turns the puck over at the far blueline while the Pens are changing behind him. That gives Drake Batherson a clean breakaway, Silovs makes the first stop, the rebound is sitting right there for the second player on the scene to get to. Turns out it’s Tim Stutzle. 2-1 Ottawa.

The Pens finally find a response on the rare chance to get a puck to the net. It’s Shea again (he’s everywhere) taking a shot that hits off Tommy Novak in the crease. Novak is able to find the loose puck and tap it into the net. 2-2 game with 11:12 to go.

It takes until 9:09 left in the game for Pittsburgh to get their first power play of the night. The big group stays out the whole time without scoring.

Claude Giroux splits the defense, Erik Karlsson has to hack at him. That causes Giroux to fall and crash into Silovs and the net, the puck goes in during the continuation of play. It takes a long review and it’s ruled a good goal for the puck over the line before the net was off.

That explanation isn’t good enough for Dan Muse, so he challenges the play for goalie interference. Questionable at best considering the contact was clearly initiated by Karlsson. Challenge denied and the Pens get a penalty and a goal against out of the deal anyways.

Pittsburgh kills off the punishment penalty, Silovs is pulled with over 2 minutes to go to get to 6v5 grind time. About halfway through the timeout is used to give the top players a breather. Doesn’t work, time runs out on the comeback effort.

Some thoughts

• From the first period area, didn’t like the way the Penguins started this game. It was nice they scored first, the style was eye-catching. The players didn’t look as connected as they usually do to start breakouts in close support. They’re trying to stretch the ice more. It’s impossible to be sharp and have the details down every night, though I think we saw some of this against the Rangers too where some bad habits are starting to creep in. Once a team experiences success or gets on a winning streak it can be difficult to keep all those little details buttoned up. It’s a long stretch of hockey too, there’s no such thing as perfection but it can be alarming to see some of the finer points of their game erode away.
• Then again, it still means something to take advantage of those mistakes. Ottawa made one in the first period when Nick Jensen played too wide and let Chinakhov get inside of him. Didn’t take long for the puck to get on and off his stick and in the net.
• You can see why Ottawa is first in the league in 5v5 xGA and third best overall in fewest shots allowed per game. They hound opponents all over the ice, grinding them down and making everything earned then jump on turnovers and get right back on the attack. Not a lot of room out there against them.
• Ryan Shea was all over the place tonight. At one point he even skated the puck aggressive while shorthanded when he realized it was a forward in Dylan Cozens back playing defense. Some good moments, some not so good.
• Kinda crazy how the Pens just can’t draw a power play for the most part these days with just 19 power plays in the last eight games. They can’t complain too much, they barely had the puck enough and were chasing Ottawa around for most of the night, tough to get a call like that.
• We’ve had some Dan Muse headscratchers when it comes to challenging very questionable goalie interference penalties, this was another one. There was no universe where the refs where going to rule Giroux interfered with Silovs. Did the Penguins want the play to be a penalty on Karlsson and no goal? I don’t even think that’s possible. Not sure if Muse is being fed bad information by the video team or just out of tune with how NHL referees are going to rule on these types of plays, he’s now 0-5 in goalie interference challenges. Muse has made several calls where the chance of getting the call to go his way was going to be an extreme longshot. This review being the most questionable of them all so far. These things can happen with a rookie coach, though at this point of the season almost four months and 55 games in it would be nice to see smarter coaching inputs happening there.
• Bad game by the big guys, as it was for just about everyone besides Silovs. Malkin was turning pucks over, he did create a goal but his decision making was spotty all night. Crosby didn’t have so much as one shot attempt (let alone one on goal) and was forcing cross-ice passes in the last minute when it appeared he had a shooting lane — a telltale sign for the rare times that he is fighting things and mired a slump. Rakell wasn’t much more noticeable. Probably a good thing that Bryan Rust can play tomorrow back from his suspension, his presence will be needed.

Can’t win ‘em all, the Ottawa Senators have always been a tough matchup for the Pens, that continued again tonight. Pittsburgh was tied late but had difficulties all night in looking sharp and couldn’t find a way to win a seventh straight game. No shame in that, though they will need to put this one in the rearview mirror quickly with a matchup against the division-rival Islanders tomorrow night.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The New York Islanders dropped their second straight game, falling 4-1 to the Washington Capitals on Monday night.

David Rittich made 20 saves. Rookie Clay Stevenson made 29 saves.  

The Capitals are now two points back of the Islanders, who have one game in hand.

Here's how it happened: 

Mathew Barzal gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 16:38 of the first period after he got a gift from Tom Wilson:

Look what I found!

Barzal gives the #Isles a 1-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/89VNAKjgGj

— The Elmonters (@TheElmonters) February 3, 2026

The Islanders failed to add to their lead and saw the Capitals take a 2-1 lead within a 31-second span in the second period.

First, it was Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary beating Rittich five-hole through a screen at 5:29 of the second before Beauvillier wrapped one past an out-of-position Rittich at the six-minute mark of the middle frame.

The Islanders, like we saw in the second period of their 4-3 loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday, struggled to do everything. Despite their breakout issues and neutral zone play, they garnered chances. 

Simon Holmstrom missed the net on a backhand semi-breakaway try before Horvat failed to score on his second breakway of the game, with Stevenson getting the shaft of his stick on a blocker-side try. 

At 8:46 of the second, Nic Dowd's backdoor pass banked off Tony DeAngelo's skate and in to give the Capitals a 3-1 lead. 

Roy pulled Rittich with 5:17 to go in the third, with John Carlson adding an empty-net tally at 17:35 for the 4-1 final. 

UP NEXT: The Islanders battle the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night at 7:30 PM.