WASHINGTON (AP) — Barry Trotz returned to his old home arena to face the team he coached to the Stanley Cup. He left with his new team in first place.Trotz’s New York Islanders beat the defending champion Washington Capitals 2-0 on Friday night to win their fourth in a row and leapfrog his former team into first place in the Metropolitan Division. In true Trotz fashion Brian Elliott Jersey , the Islanders suffocated the Capitals to win for the 14th time in their past 17 games.“We just talked about climbing,” Trotz said. “It just happened that the Caps were the next team in front of us. Two weeks ago we were talking about Buffalo and other teams like Montreal and just said, ‘Let’s keep climbing and don’t look up and just keep going,’ and the guys have been really good.”Josh Bailey and Cal Clutterbuck scored third-period goals, and Thomas Greiss made 19 saves for his second shutout of the season. New York held Washington under 20 shots and improved to 7-0-0 in the second half of back-to-back sets this season.“Going into it you’re maybe a little more conscious of playing the right way and make sure you’re playing smart and doing the right things just because the tail end of the back-to-backs sometimes the legs aren’t there quite as much as the night before,” said Bailey, who redirected Mathew Barzal’s shot past Braden Holtby 5:08 into the second period. “I think we’re really buying in, playing a good, solid team game.”The Capitals have hit a rough patch under new coach Todd Reirden Womens Claude Giroux Jersey , losing four in a row for the first time since March 2017. Washington has just one 5-on-5 goal during its skid and has lost seven of 10.“We’re not generating enough offense,” Reirden said. “We were better at not giving up quite as many chances tonight, but yet they were able to convert on the ones that they got. We need to be better. That’s right from top of our list to the bottom of our list. We need more. We need more from our players.”Holtby was sharp in stopping 23 of the 25 shots he faced in his first game in almost a week since injuring his left eye on a high stick Saturday.“We know what we have to do to be successful,” Holtby said. “I think tonight’ll help us because we played a team that is playing the right style of hockey and the way we want to play and the way we have played in the past to have a lot of success.”Trotz was honored with a video tribute during the first period. Even though he faced the Capitals in Brooklyn earlier this season when he, assistant Lane Lambert and director of goaltending Mitch Korn got their Stanley Cup rings, Trotz expected another emotional night being back in Washington.Fans gave Trotz a lengthy standing ovation throughout a video summing up his four years in Washington from when he was hired to the scene of lifting the Cup in Las Vegas. The 56-year-old left the Capitals in a contract dispute in June, was hired by the Islanders days later and replaced by longtime assistant Reirden.“My heart got full of all the good memories,” Trotz said. “I was looking up there. I was trying not to look too much because I was getting pretty close to that sensitive side of myself. But it was extremely well done and it was just great memories and everybody was a part of something special.”NOTES: Capitals D Brooks Orpik was honored for playing his 1,000th career-regular season game earlier in the week. Orpik was given a silver stick and Tiffany crystal as part of a pregame ceremony that included a tribute video featuring former Pittsburgh Penguins teammate Sidney Crosby and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder http://www.flyersshoponline.com/authentic-ivan-provorov-jersey , among others. … Islanders F Tom Kuhnhackl did not make the trip because of an illness.UP NEXTIslanders: Look for their fifth consecutive victory when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.Capitals: Attempt to halt their losing streak when they visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday. Nowhere is Connor McDavid more comfortable than on his skates.The sight of McDavid blowing past defenders is an almost every-game occurrence for the Edmonton Oilers captain whose speed is the envy of the NHL. McDavid’s crossover moves that propelled him a league-high 108 points came from years of cruising around on rollerblades.“Even when I wasn’t on the ice, I was always on my rollerblades,” McDavid said. “It’s what’s kind of got me here. I love training that way. It’s kind of just by yourself. There’s no fancy skill coach, there’s no nothing. It’s just on your rollerblades and working on some skills.”That work has paid off for McDavid, the near-unanimous choice as the fastest skater in hockey. His peers are in awe of the 21-year-old’s quick first step, even quicker second step and shake-your-head acceleration.“The way he skates, it’s something impossible, right?” Washington center Evgeny Kuznetsov asked.“He glides faster than a lot of us skate,” Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele said.“I don’t know how he does it Jakub Voracek Jersey Kids ,” Dallas captain Jamie Benn said.McDavid credits roller hockey games against his dad and brother for refining his 1-on-1 skills. Growing up in Newmarket outside Toronto, McDavid was seen as hockey’s next generational star at age 14 but he didn’t spend so much time on the ice that he forgot his rollerblading roots.“The classic ‘Mighty Ducks,'” he said. “Put the garbage can there and just go out and play.”Some of the best in the league think long and hard about how to force McDavid to go the way they want him to go and toe the line between giving him too much space. There isn’t a simple way to stop McDavid because no one can keep up with him.“There’s not a lot of times where he toe-drags you or he over-under-arounds you kind of thing, where he turns you inside out,” Ducks defenseman Josh Manson said. “He just kind of puts it by you and his speed takes him and he makes you miss. Then he’s around you and he’s going in on the goalie and he’s probably going to score.”After his 41 goals were sixth-most in the league, McDavid said over the summer he will try to score more this season. Former Oilers teammate and 2018 MVP Taylor Hall thinks McDavid could do it.“When everyone thinks that he’s at his peak, he just keeps getting better and better, whether it’s goal-scoring or leadership — whatever it is,” the Devils’ leading scorer said. “Everyone thinks that Youth Jordan Weal Jersey , ‘OK he’s got 108 points, he’s going to get around that next year.’ There’s a good chance that he gets 115 or 120 and I wouldn’t be surprised. Just with the sublime skill that he has and the athleticism is just out of control.”McDavid’s athleticism is different than Sidney Crosby’s because the Penguins captain derives his skating stride from lower-body strength. McDavid has quicker feet and the stick work to match.“When he gets the puck on his stick, his hands move as fast as his feet and it just looks so easy for him,” Kings forward Tyler Toffoli said. “The way he crosses over and gains so much speed on guys and he’s able to beat a whole team by crossing over and making one move, it’s incredible to watch.”McDavid won the fastest skater competition at All-Star Weekend the past two years. Even speedy contemporaries like Hall and Nathan MacKinnon consider him the standard.But to McDavid, there’s still another gear he can get to with his speed.“There’s always ways to improve,” McDavid said. “Guys that have the best shot in the world still shoot pucks, and that’s for a reason. You keep growing your game and finding different ways to produce. I definitely still work on my skating a lot.”