WASHINGTON — Brock Nelson’s black eye has cleared up and the stitched-up cut above the right eye is less noticeable. Still, he debuted a full face shield as the Islanders topped the Capitals, 2-1, in a shootout on Wednesday night at Capital One Arena.
“We did a [medical] picture and they saw something where it’s probably better to have that on for two weeks,” Nelson said.
Nelson exited a 7-2 win over the Maple Leafs at UBS Arena on March 21 after Noel Acciari slammed him into the corner boards in the first period. Nelson did not miss a game, playing the last three with his normal visor.
It’s essentially his first time in a full face shield.
“I wore a cage,” Nelson said. “I think I maybe wore a bubble for a hot second, I broke my jaw in Bridgeport [the Islanders’ AHL affiliate].”
Not a big deal
Wednesday marked Lane Lambert’s first return to Washington as a head coach since helping Barry Trotz lead the Capitals to the franchise’s only Stanley Cup in 2018. Lambert served as Trotz’s associate coach with the Islanders the past four seasons.
“We had some good memories, Barry and I, here,” Lambert said. “We’ve been back here so many times that this is no different. I never really even thought of that.”
Isles files
Defenseman Sebastian Aho (upper body) did not travel to Washington after rejoining his teammates for Monday’s morning skate for the first time since taking a high hit from the Sharks’ Kevin Labanc on March 18. He missed his fifth game . . . Lambert said there was nothing new to report on Mathew Barzal (suspected knee injury), who missed his 17th game and has yet to resume skating . . . Center Jean-Gabriel Pageau won 13 of 17 faceoffs.
By Andrew Gross
andrew.gross@newsday.com
AGrossNewsdayAndrew 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.
