Islanders finish road trip with victory over Capitals

WASHINGTON — The Islanders salvaged a win to end their four-game road trip. And they may have headed home with another of their top young prospects getting a chance to permanently join their lineup.

Oh, and Ilya Sorokin finally looked like the No. 1 goalie he’s been in the past for a full 60 minutes. He made 13 of his 22 saves in the first period of Friday night’s much-needed 3-1 win over the Capitals at Capital One Arena in Cal Ritchie’s Islanders debut.

Ritchie started on Mathew Barzal’s right wing along with Kyle Palmieri. But looking for an offensive spark, coach Patrick Roy reunited Barzal with center Bo Horvat in the third period while moving Ritchie back to his natural center spot with Palmieri and Jonathan Drouin.

“I felt like we were maybe a little shaky at the beginning of the game because of the losses we’ve had, and Ilya was outstanding,” Roy said. “He gave us some momentum. He gave us the belief that we could win this game. He was, without a doubt, the first star of the game for us because of the way he played in that first period.”

“Sorokie was outstanding the whole game,” said Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who took Simon Holmstrom’s feed on a shorthanded rush to tie it at 1-1 at 14:58 of the second period, with the goal withstanding the Capitals’ challenge that Pageau was offside. “He kept us in, gave us that extra boost and I thought we kind of took over, found our legs and played pretty well in the second and the third.”

So there’s some hope for the Islanders (5-5-1) despite the 1-2-1 trip heading back to UBS Arena for the next three games, starting Sunday against the Blue Jackets.

Because as promising as Friday night was, that’s how bleak Thursday turned out.

The Islanders’ 6-2 loss to the Hurricanes featured Barzal’s one-game benching for missing the team bus to the morning skate and Ritchie not being able to join the lineup when bad weather canceled his flight from New York to Raleigh, North Carolina.

Defenseman Adam Boqvist was used on the fourth line because the Islanders did not travel with an extra forward with Max Shabanov sidelined.

Finally, Ritchie, 20, a key return in the Brock Nelson deal at last season’s trade deadline, was recalled from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport on Friday.

“At the end of a road trip like that, we weren’t happy with the first [three] games,” said Horvat, who took Emil Heineman’s feed on the rush and snapped in the winner at 4:29 of the third period before Barzal clinched it with an empty-netter. “For us to come and get the win like this against a really good hockey team, it says a lot about our group and our resiliency. We’ve just got to carry this momentum going into the homestand.”

Ritchie logged 16:17 without a shot and took two minor penalties in the second period, but Roy used him on the second power-play unit and had him on the ice in the final minute of the game.

“It was awesome. It was such a crazy experience the last two days,” Ritchie said. “I thought in the third period we were good. It took me a bit to get my legs under me. That was a huge win.”

But in the first period, the Capitals (6-5-0), who have lost three straight, were outshooting the Islanders 10-1 at the midway point.

They finally took a 1-0 lead at 4:48 of the second period as Tom Wilson got past No. 1 pick Matthew Schaefer on the right and collected the puck after defenseman Scott Mayfield blocked defenseman Jakob Chychrun’s shot.

Logan Thompson (20 saves) sprawled to deny Drouin as he skated across the crease to get to his forehand at 11:25 of the second period.

Notes & quotes: Team Canada’s management for the Winter Olympics in Italy in February, including Blues general manager Doug Armstrong, Lightning GM Julien BriseBois and Bruins GM Don Sweeney, scouted Friday’s game. Among the Islanders, Horvat and possibly Schaefer and Barzal are potential candidates . . . Max Tsyplakov, who had a costly turnover that led to the Hurricanes’ first goal on Thursday, was a healthy scratch along with Boqvist.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.