Islanders take advantage of "flat" Capitals, pull away in third period

WASHINGTON -- Peter Laviolette couldn't explain why his Washington Capitals fell flat in a 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders on Tuesday night with a chance to move up in the standings and improve their playoff positioning.

"We were flat," the veteran NHL coach said. "I don't know."

Playing without injured captain Alex Ovechkin, the Capitals blew a lead and gave up four unanswered goals to an opponent that has long been out of playoff contention. They allowed power-play goals to Ryan Pulock and Noah Dobson, goaltender Ilya Samsonov botched a puck-handling attempt behind the net to help Casey Cizikas score short-handed and Tom Wilson turned the puck over to Anders Lee for New York's fourth…