UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The New York Islanders were close to ending their five-game losing streak. But Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals found a win to get their second win in two days. Ovechkins overtime winner came after Nicklas Backstrom tied the game with a short-handed score with 49 seconds left in the third period to lift the Capitals to a 3-2 victory over the Islanders on Saturday. Ovechkins 21st goal at 2:07 of overtime gave Washington the victory and improved its record to 14-11-2. The Capitals also had a strong game from goaltender Braden Holtby, who made 37 saves. "We were lucky at the end and then we got it done in overtime," Washington coach Adam Oates said. "At the end of the day, you want to do the right things out there and we did." The Islanders seemed poised for their first win since Nov. 16 after Thomas Vanek gave them a 2-1 lead with just under two minutes left. Vanek scored his eighth of the season when he flipped the puck past Holtby from in close at 18:09 as linemates John Tavares and Kyle Okposo assisted. The one-goal lead appeared safe but it wasnt to be as Capitals defenceman Mike Green took an interference penalty at 18:50. The ensuing play went into the Islanders end where Backstrom took a pass from Jason Chimera, then managed to slide the puck past Islanders goaltender Anders Nilsson for his sixth of the season to knot the score at 2. "It was a great pass by Chimmer that landed on my tape," Backstrom said. "It really felt great for me because it was a tight game between two good teams. It was felt good that we came back, a great win for us." Nilsson was making his first start for the Islanders this season after Kevin Poulin had lost the previous five games. Starter Evgeni Nabokov was injured early in the Nov. 16th game against Detroit. The Islanders won that game in a shootout with Poulin in relief but they havent won since. Aaron Volpattis score at 8:58 of the middle period put Washington ahead 1-0. Tom Wilson and Martin Erat assisted on his second goal of the season. The Islanders dictated much of the pace against the Capitals. They outshot Washington 15-9 in the first period and 12-10 in the second, a day after a 5-0 home loss to Detroit. Cal Clutterbucks short-handed breakaway goal at 3:59 of the third woke up the crowd at Nassau Coliseum. Clutterbuck broke in alone on Holtby and beat the goaltender to the glove side for his third of the season. Both goaltenders continued their sharp play until Vaneks goal broke the tie. The Islanders have been on a spiral since beating Boston at home on Nov. 2 to improve to 6-5-3. They are 2-10-1 since and 4-11-1 since they traded Tavares left wing Matt Moulson and two draft picks to Buffalo for Vanek on Oct. 27. Islanders coach Jack Capuano remained upbeat following the loss. "Guys worked hard tonight. I thought they were focused and this was a step in the right direction," he said. "It came down to special teams. Its just very frustrating that it had to end this way." The Islanders and Capitals play close games, as 17 of the past 25 games between them have been decided by one goal. Washington is 13-1-3 in those games. The Caps are 17-5-3 against the Islanders since the start of the 2007-08 season, including their 6-2 over New York on Nov. 5 at Verizon Center. The Islanders next host Pittsburgh on Tuesday before a five-game trip against top Western Conference teams St. Louis, Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose and Phoenix. For a club that reached the playoffs last season for the first time since 2007, the season is at an early crossroads. "We have to believe in one another and stick with it," Capuano said. Calvin de Haan made his season debut for the Islanders. The 22-year-old defenceman was recalled from AHL Bridgeport on Thanksgiving. A first round pick -- 12th overall -- in 2009, he previously had played only one game for the Islanders in December 2011. Notes: The Capitals recalled goaltender Philipp Grubauer from AHL Hershey to replace backup Michal Neuvirth, who stepped on puck during warmup on Friday and missed his scheduled start. ... Washington also recalled defenceman Dmitry Orlov from Hershey, sending down centre Michael Latta. ... The Capitals were without defencemen John Erskine (knee) and Jack Hillen (fractured tibia). ... The Islanders continued to be without defencemen Lubomir Visnovsky (concussion) and Brian Strait (upper body). Asdrubal Cabrera Nationals Jersey . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. Adam Eaton Jersey . Griffin scored 13 of his 31 points in the final 7:05 and Dudley got 11 of his 20 points in the third quarter, leading the defending Pacific Division champions to a 112-85 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. "Dud is a shooter. https://www.cheapnationals.com/707r-sean...-nationals.html. PETERSBURG, Fla. Michael A. Taylor Jersey . The 2010 batting champ showed what he can do when hes mostly healthy. Gonzalez homered, doubled and singled in his return to the lineup, and the Colorado Rockies snapped a five-game losing streak with a 13-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night. Matt Adams Nationals Jersey . -- The court fight over NFL concussions should heat up soon as a judge in Philadelphia weighs the fairness of the proposed $765 million settlement.ALAMEDA, Calif. - Oakland Raiders rookie quarterback Derek Carr returned to practice three days after being knocked out of a preseason game with a concussion and sore ribs. Carr practiced on a limited basis Monday and his status for the upcoming exhibition game in Green Bay on Friday night remains a question. Carr got hurt in the fourth quarter last Friday against Detroit when he was hit from behind by Larry Webster. Carr got up and immediately pointed at his ribs but later said the concussion was more of a concern. Carr has never had a concussion previously in his career. "I never had one ever so its a little scary to me," he said. "Obviously, Im feeling a lot better now than I was. Im just looking forward to taking it day by day. Obviously, its a slow process. Just progressing as the week goes on." Carr played well before the injury and even got one drive with the starting offensive line and receivers after starter Matt Schaub left the game. "It was exciting," he said. "I was screaming out plays. I was way too loud, they told me to calm down a little bit. It was great. It was good experience to be in with them. Its only the second game. I have a long way to get better." Carr lamented one throw in particular, when he overthrew Brian Leonhardt on a seam pattern on his first pass attempt of the game. Carr said he might have been too excited on that throw and his mechanics got out of whack. But Carr recovered to complete 9 of 16 passes for 109 yards and he threw a TD pass to Jake Murphy. Playing mostly against second-teamers, Carr fared better than Schaub did against the Lions first-string defence. Schaub has led the Raiders to one score in seven drives over the firstt two exhibition games as Oaklands first-team offence has struggled to find any consistency.dddddddddddd Schaub has completed 11 of 20 passes for 108 yards, one interception and no touchdowns for a passer rating of 49.6. "How our offence goes is how the quarterback goes," Schaub said. "Just be more consistent in what were doing." Schaub has faced an unusual amount of blitzing for the preseason with defences bringing extra rushers on more than half of his dropbacks so far, according to Pro Football Focus. That has forced Schaub to get rid of the ball quickly, with only three of his passes — and none of his completions — going more than 10 yards downfield. Neither Schaub nor coach Dennis Allen is too concerned about the play of the first-team offence in the first two preseason games. But they expect a better performance in the dress rehearsal Friday against Green Bay. "Do I think we need to be able to go out and execute and make some plays? I think thats something that wed all like to see," Allen said. "A little bit more consistency would probably be the right term for what Im looking for offensively. Weve gone out and made some plays and done some nice things. We just havent been as consistent as we need to be and this would be a good week to get better at that." NOTES: FB Marcel Reese (right foot) was scheduled to have an MRI. ... TE Scott Simonson (concussion) was back at practice while WR Brice Butler, DT Justin Ellis and OL Matt McCants remain sidelined by concussions. ... CB DJ Hayden, who has been out with a stress fracture in his foot since May, worked out on the side. ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '