• Center Nicklas Backstrom did not return to the game after playing 7:21 and getting hit in open ice by Islanders captain Anders Lee. The Capitals led 7-2 in shots, 15-12 in hits, 3-2 in takeaways, had three giveaways while the Islanders had seven, and did not convert on three power-plays in a very physical first period.
• Video: Isles Availability 10/19: Anders Lee. The Isles' captain knows getting back to the final four will be a challenge, before having a chance to find the last six wins to win a Stanley Cup, but.

The 268th Initials Game on The Power Trip feat. Anders Lee (P.M.) From: The Power Trip's Initials Game. 0 0 about 1 year ago.

TORONTO -- After his team gave up two goals less than halfway through the first period, Washington coach Todd Rierden called a timeout. The Capitals started playing better right after, turning the tide with a big penalty kill and some big saves.

Alex Ovechkin scored twice, including the go-ahead goal early in the third period, as Washington rallied from two goals down to beat the New York Islanders 3-2 Tuesday night and avoid a sweep in their first-round series.

'I started to see it in the second half of the first period,' Rierden said. :'We started to impose our will a little bit and tilt the ice in our favor by getting some offensive zone shifts. That's mandatory for us to have success as a team.'

Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for the Capitals and Braden Holtby stopped 24 shots. Washington won for the second time in seven postseason games, going 1-1-1 in round-robin play in the qualifying round to fall to the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, and then losing the first three games against the Islanders.

'Any comeback is exciting but I think it's more the way we played in the second and third periods,' Holtby said. 'I think that's the key to our ability to come back and win the series. If we play every period like that its going to be really, really hard to beat us. ... Our job now is to make sure that filters over in the next game.'

Mathew Barzal and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored in the first period to give New York a 2-0 lead. Semyon Varlamov finished with 26 saves.

'We got away from our game a little bit and they put on a press,' Islanders captain Anders Lee said. 'Our start was obviously really nice tonight and we just didn't sustain that the way we needed to keep that momentum we earned in that first part of the period.'

The Islanders, who won three of four against Florida in the qualifying round, lost for the second time in eight games this postseason.

Game 5 is Thursday.

Ovechkin's second of the night 3:40 into the third period gave the Capitals their first lead. On a 2-on-1 with Tom Wilson, Ovechkin kept the puck and fired it past Varlamov for his fourth of the series. It was also the first goal Washington scored after the second period in this series.

New York pulled Varlamov for an extra skater with a little more than 1 1/2 minutes remaining, but couldn't tie it.

Washington controlled the play in the second period, keeping the puck in the offensive zone for much of the time. The Capitals outshot the Islanders 15-7 in the period and scored twice to tie it.

Kuznetsov got the Capitals on the scoreboard during 4-on-4 play as he brought the puck up the right side, cut across the front of the net and put it past Varlamov at 3:35.

'Big goal obviously by Kuzy gave us momentum,' Ovechkin said. 'Holts was unbelievable today, PK blocking shots, do their job. We got rewarded. If we play like that we got pretty good chance to come back. But we're going to take a game at a time.'

With Washington on the power play, Ovechkin fired a slap shot from the top of the left circle off a pass from John Carlson to tie it at 2-2 1:54 later.

The Isles were swarming in the offensive zone from the start of the game and had an 8-1 advantage on shots on goal over the first nearly 10 minutes, scoring twice.

Pageau put the Islanders ahead 1-0 as he deflected Scott Mayfield's point shot past Holtby at 3:50.

Barzal, who had the overtime winner in Game 3 on Sunday, made it 2-0 less than 5 1/2 minutes later. He brought the puck up the middle, passed to Nick Leddy to his left, and as he was streaking to the net, tipped the return pass from Leddy past Holtby.

Reirden called a timeout immediately after the goal, and Washington picked up its intensity after.

Game notes
Washington was again without F Nicklas Backstrom, who has not played since he was injured early in Game 1 after a hit by the Islanders' Lee. ... The Capitals went 1 for 5 on the power play and shut down the Islanders on their five chances. ... Pageau has four goals this postseason. He had three in the first round against Florida, and got his first of this series Tuesday. ... New York's Cal Clutterbuck left the game in the second period after a hit by Washington's Radko Gudas and did not return.

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UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The New York Islanders relied heavily on Thomas Greiss last season, and their invariably calm netminder picked up right he where he left off.

Greiss made 35 saves and Josh Bailey, Brock Nelson and Anders Lee scored second-period goals to the lead the Islanders past the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 Sunday night.

It was the first win of the season for the Islanders, who lost their home opener 2-1 to Washington on Friday.

'It's always good to get the first win out of the way,' said the 33-year-old Geiss, who won 23 games last season with a career-best 2.27 goals against average while splitting time with Robin Lehner. 'The guys did their part and I did mine.'

The Jets lost for the second time in three games in the New York area to start their season. Winnipeg lost 6-4 to the Rangers in their season opener Thursday, and beat the New Jersey Devils 5-4 in a shootout Friday. The Jets are opening the season on a four-game trip that wraps up Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

After a scoreless first period, Bailey put the Islanders on the board, tipping in a power-play goal at 1:51 of the second. Anthony Beauvillier and Devon Toews picked up assists.

It was the third straight game the Jets had allowed the opening goal.

Nelson made it 2-0 at 4:38, sending a shot past goaltender Laurent Brossoit, who started his second straight game and finished with 29 saves. Bailey and defenseman Ryan Pulock assisted on the goal.

Lee stretched the Islanders' lead to 3-0 at 15:55 with his first goal of the season, assisted by Scott Mayfield and Jordan Eberle.

'It was a good rebound game for us,' said Lee, the team captain who signed a new seven-year $49 million contract in July. 'We were more crisp and Greiss played a great game for us.'

The game before a crowd of 9,923 was originally scheduled to be played at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but was moved to Nassau Coliseum last month. It was the first time in the building's history -- which dates to 1972 -- the Islanders played a Sunday night home game at the Coliseum. They only twice had played Sunday afternoon games on Long Island.

Patrik Laine put the Jets on the board at 17:06 of the second, snapping a shot past Greiss for his first goal of the season. The Islanders were one of two teams the 21-year-old Laine hadn't scored against. Columbus remains the other.

Blake Wheeler and defenseman Anthony Bitetto, a Long Island native, were credited with assists on Laine's goal.

Beauvillier scored for the Islanders at 1:25 of the third, with assists going to Leo Komarov and Derrick Brassard, his first point as a member of the Islanders.

The Jets outshot the Islanders 15-9 in the opening period. The Islanders dominated the second period with a 19-9 advantage in shots.

'They've got a lot of guys who can shoot. They are a good team,' Islanders coach Barry Trotz said of the Jets. 'Greiss was really solid.'

Brossoit played well despite the loss. His best early save came when he stopped of Komarov on a short-handed breakaway at 13:10 of the first. Brossoit also made two short-handed saves on Nelson in the same sequence midway through the second.

'He was fantastic. When you play as well as he played, you deserve a better number,' Jets coach Paul Maurice said. 'He's been like that all through camp. He made some great saves and gave us a chance to hang around.'

The Islanders started Greiss in goal after newcomer Semyon Varlamov played in the opening loss to Washington on Friday.

Greiss shared the William M. Jennings Trophy with Lehner last season when the Islanders allowed the fewest goals in the league.

'We didn't give them too much room,' added Greiss, who stopped all 12 shots he faced in the third period to cement the victory. 'We played hard.'

Anders Lee The Initials Games

Game notes
The Islanders scratched forwards Tom Kuhnhackl and Ross Johnston and rookie defenseman Noah Dobson, who has yet to make his NHL debut. ... The teams meet again Oct. 17 in Winnipeg. ... Winnipeg scratched forwards Bryan Little and David Gustafsson and defenseman Josh Morrissey, who sustained an upper body injury during warmups. ... Islanders coach Barry Trotz passed Hall of Famer Al Arbour on the all-time games-coached list with 1,608, third-most in league history.

UP NEXT:

Anders Lee The Initials Game On

Islanders: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.

Jets: Visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.

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