Schedule and 2019-20 Results
Regular Season Records: Washington 41-20-8=90pts, New York Islanders 35-23-10=80pts
Game 1 on Wednesday, 12 August: New York Islanders win at Washington, 4-goals-2
Game 2 on Friday, 14 August: New York Islanders win at Washington, 5-goals-2
Game 3 on Sunday, 16 August: Washington loses at New York Islanders, 2-goals-1(OT)
Game 4 on Tuesday, 18 August: Washington wins at New York Islanders, 3-goals-2
Game 5 on Thursday, 20 August: New York Islanders win at Washington, 4-goals-nil

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 5: The New York Islanders visited and shut out the Washington Capitals 4-goals-nil to complete a 4-games-1 best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1421 victory. With the series 1421 win, the New York Islanders improve their best-of-7 NHL playoff series record to 24-20 overall and 5-9 in the Preliminary round. With the series 1421 loss, the Washington Capitals see their best-of-7 NHL playoff series record fall to 18-27 overall and 12-14 in the Preliminary round. The win order for the victorious New York Islanders in series 1421 was WWWLW: Series 1421 thus becomes the 18th NHL Preliminary-round series, the 52nd NHL series (all rounds), and the 96th MLB/NBA/NHL series (all rounds) to follow that win order to completion. With their 2020 NHL Preliminary-round ouster, the Washington Capitals took the lead for most best-of-7 NBA/NHL Preliminary-round playoff series lost with 14 (joined by the Calgary Flames a few hours later).

After Game 4: The Washington Capitals visited and bested the New York Islanders 3-goals-2 to drop the New York Islanders best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL series 1421 lead to 3-games-1. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-1, the New York Islanders have a series record of 9-0 and a Game 5 record of 3-6. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-1, the Washington Capitals have a series record of 2-8 and a Game 5 record of 6-4 (with an active four-Game 5 winning streak). Washington trailed the pseudo-home team New York Islanders by two goals as late as 3:34 into the second period: In the history of best-of-7 format NHL playoff games from 1939 through 2019, inclusive, road teams trailing by two goals as late as 3:34 into the second period had a game record of only 57-361 (.136).

After Game 3: The New York Islanders hosted and bested the Washington Capitals 2-goals-1 (OT) to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1421 lead of 3-games-nil. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-nil, the New York Islanders have a series record of 10-0 and a Game 4 record of 7-3 (with an active four-Game 4 winning streak). When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-nil, the Washington Capitals have a series record of 0-5 and a Game 4 record of 2-3.

After Game 2: The New York Islanders visited and topped the Washington Capitals 5-goals-2 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1421 lead of 2-games-nil. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-nil, the New York Islanders have a series record of 12-1 (with an active eleven-series winning streak) and a Game 3 record of 10-3. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-nil, the Washington Capitals have a series record of 2-6 and a Game 3 record of 3-5.

After Game 1: The New York Islanders visited and defeated the Washington Capitals 4-goals-2 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1421 lead of 1-game-nil. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the New York Islanders have a series record of 16-5 and a Game 2 record of 13-8. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the Washington Capitals have a series record of 10-9 and a Game 2 record of 11-8. The New York Islanders trailed the Washington Capitals by two goals on the road as late as 18:56 into the second period of series 1421 Game 1, but prevailed: In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff games, road teams trailing by two goals as late as 18:56 into the second period had a game record of only 31-465 (0.062).

Pre-series assessment: In the 2019-20 NHL regular season, the Washington Capitals finished ten points ahead of the New York Islanders. From 1939 through the 2019 NHL Finals round, when NHL teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by ten regular-season points, they have posted a best-of-7 playoff series record of 11-10 (.524) in those series against those opponents. MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1421 is the 45th best-of-7 NHL playoff series for the Washington Capitals, and the 44th for the New York Islanders. In best-of-7 NHL playoff series, the Washington Capitals have an all-rounds series record of 18-26, a Preliminary-round series record of 12-13, and a Game 1 record of 25-19, while the New York Islanders have an all-rounds series record of 23-20, a Preliminary-round series record of 4-9, and a Game 1 record of 21-22. Series 1421 is the fifth best-of-7 NHL playoff series meeting between the Washington Capitals and the New York Islanders. Washington won three of the previous four series between these two entities.