UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Excuse John Tavares if the Islanders captain doesn't recall the previous time New York won a playoff game in overtime.
"I was only 3 years old then," Tavares said, when informed it's been 22 years since that happened.
He'll certainly remember this one.
Tavares won the overtime-opening faceoff and scored 15 seconds into the extra period to seal a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Sunday.
The victory gave the Islanders a 2-1 series lead, and left the crowd chanting "MVP! MVP!" in appreciation of Tavares' effort.
Tavares became the first Islanders player to score a playoff overtime goal since David Volek did in Game 7 of a second-round 4-3 victory over Pittsburgh on May 14, 1993.
New York had lost its previous six overtime playoff games.
Tavares' score ranks second to J.P. Parise in terms of immediacy. Parise scored in 11 seconds on April 11, 1975, in the franchise's first postseason game decided in OT.
Game 4 is at Long Island on Tuesday.
"The best players have to be your best players if you're going to have a chance to win a Stanley Cup," Islanders Coach Jack Capuano said of Tavares. "Tonight, 91, was 91. He did a lot of good things for us on the ice but on the bench, too, to calm things down."
The Islanders bounced back giving up three consecutive goals in a 4-3 loss in Game 2 at Washington on Friday.
This time, New York gave up the tying goal with 6:06 left in regulation, when Nicklas Backstrom snapped in a shot off the crossbar.
"It happens," Tavares said. "You have to deal with each and every shift, the adversity you face. You have to move on."
The Islanders controlled the play from the start of overtime.
Off the faceoff, Nikolay Kulemin fired the puck at the net from center. Capitals goalie Braden Holtby played it and gloved the puck to defenseman John Carlson, who quickly sent it up the boards.
Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy intercepted the puck at the left point and shot it toward the net, where Kulemin redirected it in the circle.
Holtby made a pad save and then attempted to poke the puck into the right corner. Tavares was already racing in and shoveled the shot in before Holtby could cover the post.
"It happened pretty quick, obviously," Holtby said. "Another rebound and it's in the net. We need to start off an overtime in a more defensive way. It's something we need to learn from."
Holtby was otherwise solid in stopping 40 shots, while showing no effects of an illness that forced him to miss Game 2.
"Tough one to swallow right now," Holtby said. "But playoffs is all about having a short memory and make sure we're a lot better next game."
Kyle Okposo also scored for the Islanders.
"We just wanted to get back to playing the way we needed to," Okposo said. "After they scored that goal to tie it up, we got back to playing on our toes."
BLACKHAWKS 4, PREDATORS 2
CHICAGO -- Jonathan Toews had a goal and an assist and Chicago used a three-goal second period to beat Nashville for a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference first-round series.
Marian Hossa had two assists and Scott Darling made 35 saves to help Chicago win for the 20th time in its past 24 postseason home games. Brandon Saad, Brent Seabrook and Andrew Desjardins also scored as the Blackhawks offered a strong response to Friday night's 6-2 loss in Nashville.
Darling, a native of the Chicago suburb of Lemont, made his first postseason start after Corey Crawford was ineffective in the first two games of the series. The rookie also replaced Crawford in Game 1 and made 42 saves as the Blackhawks rallied for a 4-3 victory in double overtime.
Mike Ribeiro and Mattias Ekholm scored for Nashville, and Pekka Rinne had 26 saves.
Game 4 is Tuesday night in Chicago.
CANADIENS 2, SENATORS 1, OT
OTTAWA, Ontario -- Dale Weise scored the tying goal late in the third period and then won it 8:47 into overtime, leading the Montreal Canadiens to victory in their first-round playoff series.
Montreal has a chance to complete a four-game sweep Wednesday, with Game 4 in Ottawa.
Weise sent the game to overtime with his goal with 5:47 remaining in the third. Torrey Mitchell assisted on both goals, and Carey Price made 33 saves.
Clarke MacArthur opened the scoring for the Senators at 11:28 of the first period. Craig Anderson, making his first start of the playoffs, made 47 saves in the loss.
Montreal dominated at times in the second and third periods, outshooting Ottawa 31-15 through the final 40 minutes of regulation.
Sports on 04/20/2015