Bo Horvat scored the lone goal for the New York Islanders, who dropped their third straight and four of their last five in a 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals at UBS Arena on Sunday afternoon. The Iles fell to 1-3-2 in matinee games this season, with six more early starts still ahead.
Ilya Sorokin made 14 saves but was victimized by a pair of Wilson strikes, including one created by a rare misplay behind his own net. Wilson opened the scoring at 7:37 of the first period, finishing a power-play feed from Alex Ovechkin. Rookie Ryan Leonard, the eighth overall pick in 2023, notched the secondary assist. Washington doubled its lead in the second when Sorokin mishandled a puck behind the net, leaving Wilson alone to deposit his team-leading 15th goal of the season.
“We did everything right,” head coach Patrick Roy said. “We had a lot of shots, we had a lot of chances, we came up short. We could find excuses, I get it, the standard of our team is to win hockey games and do the right thing. Sometimes you need to just continue to play the way we are and believe that things will go on our way.”
The Islanders pushed late and briefly made it interesting when Horvat hammered a loose, bouncing puck at the top of the crease with 6:17 left in regulation. But any chance of a comeback evaporated as the Capitals sealed the win with empty-net tallies from Ovechkin and Aliaksei Protas.
Logan Thompson stopped 30 shots for Washington, earning his fourth straight win as the Capitals extended their winning streak to four.
The Islanders went 1-for-3 on the power play, but the ongoing drought persists. They have scored just two goals on their last 34 opportunities with the man advantage. The Isles will look to regroup quickly as their homestand continues, searching for offense, consistency, and a way to halt a skid that has tightened the standings around them.