<p>WASHINGTON — Daniel Sprong scored 1:29 in for his third goal in two games, Vitek Vanecek made 18 saves and the Washington Capitals shut out the New York Islanders 1-0 on Tuesday night to win their first home game with fans this season and sweep a three-game series between the teams.</p>
<p>Sprong continues to make the most of his opportunity to fill in on the top line for captain Alex Ovechkin, who missed a second consecutive game with a lower-body injury. Despite playing again without Ovechkin and injured defenseman Justin Schultz, the Capitals leapfrogged Pittsburgh to move back into first place in the neck-and-neck East Division.</p>
<p>The Islanders have fallen to third after picking up one point out of a possible six in three games against Washington. They were shut out by a rookie goaltender for the second time in six games and third time overall in that span.</p>
<p>New York’s rookie goalie, Ilya Sorokin, made his biggest of 32 saves on a breakaway by Anthony Mantha early in the third period to keep the score close. Sorokin got the start after Semyon Varlamov was a surprise scratch on his 33rd birthday with Cory Schneider backing up.</p>
<p>After Sprong’s 10th goal of the season on the game’s first shot, there were more fists flying and shoves exchanged than quality scoring chances. <a href="https://apnews.com/362a22f6a4680a3ca86b3d0f0e2ca3eb">Washington’s Zdeno Chara</a> took exception to a hit from behind by Matt Martin on new teammate Michael Raffl and fought Martin to the delight of the 2,100 fans in attendance. </p>
<p>Raffl, who played his first home game since the Capitals acquired him at the trade deadline, hugged Chara when the 6-foot-9 defenseman was released from the penalty box.</p>
<p>FANS BACK IN WASHINGTON</p>
<p>The Capitals were the second-last American NHL team to get some fans back for home games, at 10% capacity. After 419 days since the last NHL game in Washington on March 4, 2020, the “Let’s go Caps!” chants began well before pregame warmups got underway.</p>
<p>Only Chicago is left playing in an empty arena among the 24 teams in the U.S., along with <a href="https://t.co/am5mf7BTt2">all seven in Canada</a>.</p>
<p>ISLANDERS CHANGES</p>
<p>Coach Barry Trotz promised “a change or two” to his lineup after consecutive losses to the Capitals and made a few. Josh Bailey earned a promotion to the top line alongside Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle, Oliver Wahlstrom replaced Michael Dal Colle among forwards and Braydon Coburn went in for Noah Dobson on defense.</p>
<p>“I’m just trying to try different combinations,” Trotz said. “It’s a little bit of a jigsaw puzzle right now. A Rubik’s Cube would probably be a better analogy to that than a puzzle. But yeah we’re just trying to get a little more production.”</p>
<p>BACK TO VANECEK</p>
<p>The Capitals went back to Vanecek in net despite Ilya Samsonov stopping 47 of 50 shots in <a href="https://apnews.com/d8efb9fde3a123fa7d1f3a100fad851b">consecutive victories</a> at the Islanders. That’s a calculated move by the coaching staff as it evaluates who might be Washington’s Game 1 playoff starter.</p>
<p>“It’s important that we continue to play both goaltenders,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “I think the playoffs are probably built for multiple goalies in today’s game.”</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Islanders: Visit the Rangers on Thursday in the opener of a home-and-home series between New York rivals.</p>
<p>Capitals: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday in the first of two in a row against them in Washington.</p>
<hr />
<p>Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/SWhyno">https://twitter.com/SWhyno</a></p>
<hr />
<p>More AP NHL: <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/NHL">https://apnews.com/hub/NHL</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Sports">https://twitter.com/AP_Sports</a></p>
