WASHINGTON — It was a must-win game for the Washington Capitals on Monday, facing the New York Islanders as they look to try and catch up with them in the standings. And, in a matter of seconds, they turned the tide and rode it to a key win. Nic Dowd had a multi-point night, and Clay Stevenson shut the door en route to a season-changing 4-1 win over the Islanders. Here are the takeaways from their third straight win: CAPITALS HANG IN AFTER TOUGH START, RIDE 31-SECOND SURGE TO WIN The Capitals didn't get off to the estart they wanted on Monday, being outshot heavily by the Islanders and going down a goal after a tough defensive turnover from Tom Wilson. However, they stuck with the process, and it paid off as they changed the narrative in a quick span in the second. Martin Fehervary, playing in his first game since welcoming baby daughter, Anna, on Saturday, finished off a nice give-and-go with Wilson to tie things up and give D.C. life. Then, just seconds later, Anthony Beauvillier got the puck behind the net, and his wraparound bid made it past David Rittich to make it a 2-1 game. From there, it was just about playing a shutdown game, and the Capitals did the job well and added four unanswwered goals to boot. DOWD COMES UP BIG IN MILESTONE GAME Skating in his 500th game as a Capital, Nic Dowd again came up big for his team, posting a multi-point night and sparking his team en route to the victory. Dowd assisted on Fehervary's game-opening goal, then, in the third, his backdoor feed to Alex Ovechkin went off Tony DeAngelo and in to make it a 3-1 game and put D.C. in a comfortable spot late. STEVENSON SHUTS THE DOOR, CARLSON ICES WIN After that first goal, Clay Stevenson and the defense helped shut down the Islanders, who tried to come back with a number of chances and had pulled their netminder with over four minutes left to try and rally. John Carlson ultimately iced the game with a late empty-net goal. Stevenson stopped 29 of 30 for his second consecutive victory in net.
