Washington’s Evgeny Kuznetsov scores against Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov during a shootout Thursday, giving the Capitals a 1-0 victory. Kathy Willens/Associated Press
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the deciding goal of the shootout, giving the Washington Capitals a 1-0 win over the New York Islanders on Thursday night to reclaim sole possession of first place in the East Division.
Ilya Samsonov stopped 26 shots through overtime for his second shutout of the season and third of his career. Washington won for the seventh time in 11 games.
Semyon Varlamov, who had a 29-save shutout in the teams’ last meeting on April 6, finished with 28 saves through overtime in this one. However, he gave up two goals on three attempts in the shootout.
The Islanders fell one point behind the Capitals, tied for second place with Pittsburgh – which beat New Jersey 5-1. Boston is another three points back in fourth.
PENGUINS 5, DEVILS 1: Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust each scored their 19th goals of the season and Pittsburgh beat visiting New Jersey.
FLYERS 3, RANGERS 2: James van Riemsdyk scored two power-play goals as visiting Philadelphia ended a two-game skid.
Jakub Voracek scored the deciding goal for Philadelphia, and Brian Elliott made 33 saves. Ivan Provorov had two assists.
Brendan Smith and Artemi Panarin scored for New York.
LIGHTNING 3, BLUE JACKETS 1: Ondrej Palat scored the tie-breaking goal in the third period and Curtis McElhinney stopped 24 shots, leading Tampa Bay to a win at home.
MAPLE LEAFS 5, JETS 3: Mitch Marner had two goals and an assist, Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 34th goal and visiting Toronto topped Winnipeg.
HURRICANES 4, PANTHERS 2: Sebastian Aho scored two short-handed goals as visiting Carolina beat Florida.
RED WINGS 7, STARS 3: Jakub Vrana scored four goals in a game for the first time to help Detroit win at home.
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