Uniondale, New York New York captain John Tavares scored 15 seconds into overtime to give the Islanders a 2-1
victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
Nikolay Kulemin’s initial shot was stopped by Braden Holtby, who then tried to direct the rebound into the right corner. The puck went to Tavares, who shovelled it in before Holtby could cover the right post.
The goal gave New York a 2-1 series lead.
Kyle Okposo also scored for the Islanders, and Jaroslav Halak made 24 saves.
Washington tied it on Nicklas Backstrom’s goal with 6:06 remaining in the third.
Holtby stopped 40 shots and showed no effects of an illness that forced him to miss Game 2.
In 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 last 24 postseason home games. Brandon Saad, Brent Seabrook and Andrew Desjardins also scored in an impressive response by the Blackhawks after 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.
