WASHINGTON -- The precocious Russian forward drafted in the first round by the Washington Capitals finally delivered a breathtaking, winning goal in a Game 7. No, not Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Skating around every opponent on the ice, Kuznetsov scored the go-ahead goal with less than 7 1/2 minutes left in Game 7, and Braden Holtby only needed to make 10 saves Monday night, lifting the Washington Capitals past the New York Islanders 2-1 in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Kuznetsov, a rookie, scored the sort of athletic, breathtaking goal his better-known teammate, Ovechkin, often does, taking the puck from the right boards and heading across the ice before sending a rising shot over sprawling goalie Jaroslav Halak.
Joel Ward gave Washington a 1-0 lead late in the second period, and Frans Nielsen pulled New York even early in the third.
The Capitals now face the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers, who eliminated Washington from the 2012 and 2013 playoffs -- in Game 7 each time.
That's part of a long history of postseason failures for the Capitals, including never advancing beyond the second round since Ovechkin arrived and started earning MVP trophies and leading the NHL in goals year after year. This was the eighth time in 10 playoff series involving Ovechkin that went to a Game 7, and his team was only 2-5 in such contests until Monday.
Until Kuznetsov, a 22-year-old center, came through, adding to the two goals and assist he had in Game 3.
The Islanders' loss ends their playing days at Nassau Coliseum, which opened in 1972. The team is moving to Brooklyn next season.
You have to go back 22 years to find a playoff series won by the Islanders, and that victory in 1993 came against -- guess who? -- the Capitals. Since then, New York has lost seven consecutive first-round series.
This was the first Game 7 of this year's NHL playoffs and it was a fitting conclusion to this particular matchup, given how even these two teams are. Through the first six games, each team scored 14 goals. Each won on the road. Each won in overtime. And during the regular season, both finished with 101 standings points, and three of their four head-to-head meetings went to overtime.
LIGHTNING 5, RED WINGS 2
DETROIT -- Tyler Johnson scored two goals in his latest stellar performance and the Tampa Bay Lightning held on for a victory over the Detroit Red Wings, forcing a Game 7 in their first-round playoff series.
Johnson and Jason Garrison scored in the first period, and Johnson added another goal in the second to give the Lightning a 3-0 lead. Tomas Tatar scored twice for Detroit, but Alex Killorn answered with an unassisted goal with 5:09 remaining, and Cedric Paquette added an empty-netter.
Ben Bishop made 22 saves for the Lightning, who led the NHL in goals during the season but had been struggling to score on the Red Wings and goalie Petr Mrazek in this series.
Sports on 04/28/2015