WASHINGTON, DC – Evgeny Kuznetsov’s goal with 7:18 left in the third period lifted the Washington Capitals to a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference first round series at the Verizon Center in Washington. The Capitals won the series, 4-3, and will now play the top-seeded President’s Trophy winner New York Rangers.
Kuznetsov started from the right of Jaroslav Halak and circled across the Islanders zone to a sharp angle to Halak’s left, when Kuznetsov beat Halak over the shoulder to the top right corner of his net. 
“I said you have to go through a Game 7, you can’t go around it, and just as a young player, he’s got to go through the National Hockey League and into the playoffs, and all the things that you get tested on. Kuzy is going through things and every situation that has come up he’s tried to work on it and get better and have an impact and he has,” said Washington head coach Barry Trotz.
The Capitals still had to kill off an Islanders power play with 2:54 left in the game for a John Carlson roughing penalty. It was the only penalty called in the game. It gave the Islanders not only one last chance to force overtime, but also one last chance for their power play to convert having gone 0-for-13 up until then. The Islanders were again unsuccessful and did not seriously threaten after pulling Halak for an extra attacker.
“The theme of us all year long – our power play has been there for us. You can’t go through a series – we didn’t get a goal from our defensemen and I think they [Capitals] got three in the series – and that’s a big part of it. That’s why we didn’t score many goals. I am proud of the effort they put in. It was a close series and I want to congratulate Barry [Trotz] and his staff and the Washington Capitals organization, and I wish them luck,” said New York head coach Jack Capuano.
Frans Nielsen set the stage for Kuznetsov’s heroics by tying the game 3:13 after the Islanders emerged from the second intermission trailing. Nielsen’s goal was a soft one allowed by Braden Holtby that squirted through his pads.
“Obviously, he wanted it back, but he’s been outstanding the whole season. Everyone has mistakes. We find a way to win anyway, so it doesn’t matter, to be honest with you,” said Washington center Nicklas Backstrom.
Nielsen’s goal planted the seed of doubt for a Capitals fanbase that had been disappointed so often. Going into tonight’s game, the Capitals had a 3-9 record in Game 7’s, and a 2-7 record at home, including recent heartbreaks against Pittsburgh (2009), Montreal (2010) and the Rangers (2013).
Facing the Islanders in Game 7 brought back memories of the Easter Epic of 1987, when the Islanders rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to win the longest Game 7 in NHL history. Pat LaFontaine scored at 8:47 of the fourth overtime.
Joel Ward gave the Capitals the lead at 18:35 of the second period by jamming the rebound off Brooks Orpik’s shot from the left point through Halak’s pads.
The Capitals defense held the Islanders to only 11 shots. Islanders captain John Tavares was held without a shot.
Halak made 24 saves on 26 shots for the Islanders. Holtby made 10 saves.
“It seemed like we were worried or on our heels a bit. We didn’t want to make a mistake, and I think in these games, in Game 7’s, you’ve got to play a little bit more aggressive. You’ve got to play on your toes, especially on the road. We found a way to tie it, but it’s just unfortunate,” said Tavares.
“It was a phenomenal game. It‘s the best I’ve seen us play, everybody. It was an effort that probably should have been more than 2-1 with the way we played, but start to finish, it was the game we’ve been trying to groom all year, and it should do us a lot of confidence that we can play a full 60 [minutes],” said Holtby.
With the Islanders’ loss in Game 7, Nassau Coliseum was officially closed with their victory in Game 6.
“We wanted to get back home. The theme that they have at the Coliseum, with the Jumbotron and the music and the chats, we actually played that before our game, so they were definitely in our thoughts. We wanted to get back there. I thought our guys obviously really, really understood how important the season that we had correlated with the fanbase and the energy that we built off. I can’t thank them enough, and I’m sure the players can’t either,” said Capuano.
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