“That was the play. We’ve talked about it before,” said Alzner, who made his NHL debut last week after a call-up from AHL affiliate Hershey. “I tested it out once before. The second time it worked pretty good.”

It was the first point ever for Alzner, who received the assist. It was the first goal of the season for Brashear, a fighter who has always at least contributed offensively. That wasn’t happening so far this year with no goals and two assists in 23 games.

“I was wondering, could I do more [to score goals],” Brashear said. “[General Manager] George [McPhee] said try to take it to the net and crash there. They could haul you down for a penalty or it’s going to bounce. Tonight it bounced well.”

The winning score came at 6:50 of the third and helped Washington (14-9-3) avoid what could have been a harsh loss. The Caps scored the first two goals of the game and outshot New York, 47-29.  It was only the brilliance of MacDonald that kept the Islanders (10-13-2) close. He stopped 42 shots and made a half-dozen sparkling saves to keep the Caps at bay.

But it wasn’t enough. Alex Ovechkin and Viktor Kozlov each recorded power-play goals for Washington in the first period. Islanders defenseman Mark Streit had a power-play goal at 19:24 of the first. Forward Trent Hunter then tied the game in the second period when he slammed home a pass from teammate Andy Sutton at 13:38.

But the line of Brashear, Matt Bradley and David Steckel dominated a shift early in the third period, cycling the puck through the offensive zone at will. With the Islanders reeling, Alzner made the simple play — just get the puck deep.

“I know I can get a pretty good kick. And I just wanted to put it down low,” said Alzner, who spends at least a few minutes of warm-ups before every game shooting pucks off the boards to check the bounce he’ll get. “Those guys are having a great shift and I wanted them to keep the momentum going.”

That’s exactly what happened. The puck caromed perfectly in front and “it looked like a big piece of cheese to me,” Brashear said.

Eric Fehr added a late goal for the Caps with a power-play tally at 16:14. He knocked home a rebound after several whacks by Brooks Laich, who earned the assist. It was Fehr’s third goal of the season and Laich’s second assist of the night. Nicklas Backstrom added an empty-net goal with just 50 seconds left. That assist went to Ovechkin, who completed a three-point night. With the win, the Caps snapped a two-game losing streak overall and a three-game losing streak to the Islanders.

Unlike Tuesday’s 5-3 loss to Florida, the Caps started hot and stayed that way through most of the first period. Ovechkin registered his power-play goal at 11:31 with a wrister from the left wing that slipped under MacDonald’s catching glove. That came with just three seconds left on the man-advantage. But the Caps were back on the power play less than 40 seconds later. It took just over a minute for Kozlov to deflect home a point shot by defenseman Bryan Helmer for the 2-0 lead.

Streit scored his power-play goal with just 36 seconds left in the first. More worrisome, Ovechkin did not play the final seven minutes of that period after what seemed like an innocent mid-ice collision with an Islanders player. That’s about the last thing the Caps would’ve needed — “I took a big gulp,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau — with seven members of the Opening Night lineup already out with various injuries.

Ovechkin completed his shift at 12:56 and immediately headed to the dressing room with what he later called a broken skate. He returned in the second period and finished with 19:22 of ice time on 16 shifts.

“We knew if we had a chance to shoot the puck, we should shoot it,” said Ovechkin, who posted both of his assists after his return. “Just shoot the puck and take some rebounds. It’s a key to the game.”

Caps notes


» Caps goalie Brent Johnson was overshadowed by New York goalie Joey MacDonald’s 42 saves. But Johnson, starting for the first time since, Saturday’s 3-0 loss at Columbus, had a fine game, too, with 27 saves on 29 shots.

» Washington had already moved up to 10th in the NHL on the power play, converting 21 percent of their opportunities. That ranking will only rise after the Caps scored on 3-of-5 opportunities Thursday.

» Winger Alex Ovechkin had an Islanders defenseman in front of him as he skated in on an empty net in the final minute. But instead of firing a contested shot he dished to teammate Nicklas Backstrom, who put the puck away. “I thought he’d give it back,” Ovechkin joked afterwards.

» The Caps finished with a season-high 47 shots. It was just the second time in 26 games they have broken the 40-shot mark.

» Attendance at Verizon Center — on Dollar Dog Night — was 18,130, the fifth crowd above 18,000 this season in 12 home games. The Caps didn’t draw more than 18,000 fans to a game last year until Feb. 8.

» Caps forward Viktor Kozlov started the game on the second line as coach Bruce Boudreau tried to get struggling center Michael Nylander going as a winger on the top line. Kozlov earned the game’s No. 1 star with his power-play goal. He also hit the left post in the second period and moments later was robbed again by MacDonald.

» The Islanders had a wild goal wiped out in the second period. After a faceoff just outside New York’s offensive zone, defenseman Chris Campoli banked a shot off the skate of linesman Tony Sericolo. The puck somehow deflected right towards Johnson, who dove to no avail. But by rule a puck can’t deflect in off a referee or linesman and the play was ruled no goal.

» Defenseman Bryan Helmer recorded his first point in four games as a Capital when his power-play shot was deflected home by Kozlov in the first period. It was also Helmer’s first NHL point since the 2003-04 season when he was with the Phoenix Coyotes. He was just recalled from AHL Hershey last week.