Brock Nelson scored twice, Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist, and Jaroslav Halak made 24 saves to help the Islanders to a 4-1 win against the Capitals in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Verizon Center. Ryan Strome scored for the Islanders, who blew a chance to have home-ice advantage in this series when they lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nassau Coliseum. Nelson opened the scoring 6:06 into the game when he beat Capitals goalie Braden Holtby with a wrist shot from the right circle that eluded Holtby's glove. Nelson sealed the win with an empty-net goal. Holtby made 23 saves. Halak, who finished last season with the Capitals, came up big on the penalty kill against a dangerous Washington power play. The Islanders were solid for 19 minutes in the first period before Johansson tied the game at 19:03. Halak misplayed the puck behind the net and Brooks Laich fed Johansson to make it 1-1. Strome scored off a faceoff 3:20 into the second period. Islanders captain John Tavares won the offensive-zone draw and flipped a pass to Strome, who beat Holtby high on the blocker side. Washington managed seven shots on goal in the first period, prompting coach Barry Trotz to shake up his top two lines in an attempt to generate offense. Tavares led Islanders forwards in ice time (17:43). Bailey gave New York a 3-1 lead at 10:36 of the second period when he tapped his rebound behind a sprawling Holtby on his second attempt. Nelson outraced two Capitals and scored into an empty net at 18:41 of the third period for his second goal of the game. Strome, Anders Lee and Calvin de Haan made their postseason debuts for the Islanders. Each team went 0-for-2 on the power play. Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin had eight shots on goal and a minus-2 rating. The Islanders played without Travis Hamonic, who is out indefinitely with an undisclosed injury. Matt Martin and Frans Nielsen returned after missing three regular-season games. Eric Fehr and Jay Beagle returned to Washington's lineup each from an upper-body injury. Beagle missed 14 games and Fehr missed three. Tom Wilson did not play. He was injured blocking a shot in a 2-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings on April 5.
Game 2 - NY Islanders @ Washington 3-4 - Fri, Apr 17 - Series Tied 1-1
Trailing by two goals early in the second period with their starting goaltender out, the Capitals didn't panic. Instead they rallied to score two third-period goals and defeat the Islanders 4-3. Washington trailed 2-0 and 3-1 but won to tie the best-of-7 series. It was the first time since April 21, 2008 that the Capitals trailed a playoff game by two goals and won in regulation. Capitals goalie Philipp Grubauer made 18 saves in his Stanley Cup Playoff debut. Recalled from Hershey of the American Hockey League on Friday morning, he played in place of Braden Holtby, who was ill. Grubauer didn't find out he would start the game until Friday morning. The 23-year-old figured he would back up Holtby or watch the game from the press box. A few hours later, he became the third Capitals goaltender to win his playoff debut (Bob Mason on April 11, 1987; and Olaf Kolzig on April 5, 1995). Grubauer is the seventh Capitals rookie goaltender to start a playoff game and the first German-born goalie to start one in NHL history. New York led 2-0 3:24 into the second period on goals by Cal Clutterbuck and Ryan Strome. Chimera scored the game-winning goal 7:37 into the third period, after Nicklas Backstrom tied it at 3:44. Alex Ovechkin and Karl Alzner also scored for Washington. Kyle Okposo scored for New York, and Jaroslav Halak made 31 saves. In a first period marked by physicality, the Islanders blocked 15 shots and had 18 hits. The Capitals attempted 31 shots but five made it to the net. Clutterbuck gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 5:14 of the period. Fed by a Matt Martin pass that created a 2-on-1 against Tim Gleason, Clutterbuck skated through the neutral zone and beat Grubauer high glove side from the left faceoff dot. Strome scored at 3:24 of the second period to make it 2-0. John Tavares picked the puck out of the corner and passed to Strome, who took a one-timer from the top of the right circle. With the Islanders trapped in their zone, Alzner made it 2-1 at 11:26 of the period with a one-timer from the right circle over Halak's glove. Okposo answered for the Islanders at 14:09 to make it 3-1 after a neutral-zone turnover by Washington. Josh Bailey fed Okposo, who scored from the right circle. Ovechkin chipped into the lead with a close-range wrist shot to make it 3-2 at 16:09. It was the first playoff point for Ovechkin in seven games, since May 4, 2013. He has 62 points in 60 NHL playoff games and holds Washington's record of 32 playoff goals. Washington outshot New York 18-7 in the second period. Backstrom tied it 3-3 on a third-period power play. He beat three Islanders defenders and scored from the slot. Tom Wilson returned from an upper-body injury to play the fourth playoff game of his NHL career.
Game 3 - Washington @ NY Islanders 1-2 OT - Sun, Apr 19 - Isles Lead 2-1
John Tavares scored 15 seconds into overtime for the Islanders, who defeated the Capitals 2-1 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round series at Nassau Coliseum. After a faceoff win to start overtime, Johnny Boychuk sent a shot that Capitals goalie Braden Holtby saved and kept in play. John Carlson tried to clear it, but Nick Leddy kept it in the zone and shot it on goal. Nikolay Kulemin deflected the shot and Brooks Orpik tipped the puck, which Holtby saved, before the rebound went to Tavares, who scored from the side of the net. It was the Islanders' first overtime win in the playoffs since David Volek scored in Game 7 of their fluke against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Patrick Division Finals in 1993. New York had a 1-0 lead entering the final seven minutes of the third period before Washington tied it with 6:06 remaining on a goal by Nicklas Backstrom from near the right circle. The Islanders outshot the Capitals 16-5 in a scoreless first period. New York had the first 10 shots on goal. Washington didn't have a shot until 7:52 into the game. Jaroslav Halak made 24 saves (11 in the third period), including three on Alex Ovechkin. Holtby made 40 saves and withstood the Islanders' onslaught in the first period. Okposo gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 12:37 of the second. Lubomir Visnovsky, who was hit by Troy Brouwer 8:08 into the second period and skated to the locker room, returned to set up Okposo's goal. Visnovsky took a shot from the right side, which deflected off Okposo's leg and past Holtby. Washington, which had the NHL's best power play during the regular season, went 0-for-3 with three shots on goal on the man advantage. Eric Fehr left the game early in the first period after a hit by Okposo. He sustained an upper-body injury and didn't return, and Trotz was unsure of his availability for Game 4.
Game 4 - Washington @ NY Islanders 2-1 OT - Tue, Apr 21 - Tied 2-2
Nicklas Backstrom scored 11:09 into overtime to give the Capitals a 2-1 win at Nassau Coliseum. About three minutes after Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak robbed Jason Chimera, Halak was screened by Joel Ward on Backstrom's shot from the point, and the Capitals avoided being down 3-1 in the series. Alex Ovechkin scored and had an assist for Washington, and goalie Braden Holtby made 36 saves. The Islanders were again on the wrong side of a play involving a broken stick. John Tavares had to try to defend Backstrom on the overtime goal after his stick broke along the right-wing boards. Washington opened the scoring for the first time in the series when Ovechkin redirected John Carlson's shot from the point past Halak at 13:06 of the first period. It was Ovechkin's second goal of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Islanders tied it 1-1 with 12.6 seconds left in the first period when Casey Cizikas scored his first goal of the series. Cal Clutterbuck made a nifty move toward the slot and put a wrist shot on net that was denied by Holtby, but Cizikas quickly swatted the rebound over the goal line. New York had plenty of opportunities to score in the second period, when Washington took three minor penalties before it was halfway through. But the Islanders went 0-for-3 and are 0-for-10 in the series. Halak made his best save 8:16 into the third period; he dove across the crease to deny Marcus Johansson's redirection of a feed by Ovechkin during Washington's first power play. Clutterbuck nearly put the Islanders in front 23 seconds later while shorthanded, but his wrist shot from the right circle hit the crossbar.
Holtby, who missed Game 2 because of an illness and made 40 saves in an overtime loss on Sunday, made 15 saves in the second period, 36 total. Brooks Orpik rushed to the dressing room with 1:03 left in the first period after his face was cut by the skate blade of Nikolay Kulemin. Orpik returned for the start of the second. Lubomir Visnovsky left the game with 14:06 remaining in the second after being hit hard by Tom Wilson behind the Islanders net. Wilson received a minor penalty for charging; Visnovsky did not return. Capuano did not have an update on Visnovsky's condition after the game. The Capitals braved another hostile environment but this time managed to get the win after losing Game 3 2-1 in overtime. The Capitals played without Eric Fehr, who sustained an upper-body injury in Game 3. He was replaced by Michael Latta. Andre Burakovsky made his postseason debut and replaced Curtis Glencross, who was a healthy scratch. Glencross did not have a point and was minus-3 through the first three games.
Game 5 - NY Islanders @ Washington 1-5 - Thu, Apr 23 - Caps Lead 3-2
The Capitals haven’t held a lead for much of their Eastern Conference First Round series against the Islanders. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored twice to help the Capitals defeat the Islanders 5-1 in Game 5 at Verizon Center. Washington leads the best-of-7 series 3-2. The Capitals trailed for only 3:17, led 2-1 after the second period and scored three goals in nine minutes in the third. Braden Holtby made 22 saves for Washington. Laich, Jason Chimera and Karl Alzner also scored for the Capitals. Washington was perfect on the penalty kill, holding the Islanders scoreless on both power plays. The Islanders have not scored a power-play goal on 12 attempts in the series. The Capitals know the Islanders will be tough to defeat in their own building, especially in an elimination game.
New York goalie Jaroslav Halak allowed five goals on 35 shots before being pulled for backup Michal Neuvirth. Josh Bailey scored the Islanders’ only goal.
Bailey scored at 5:48 of the first period. His shot went through traffic and past Holtby to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead, the fourth time in five games that the Islanders scored first. The Capitals got the secondary scoring they were looking for at 9:05 of the first when Kuznetsov tied the game 1-1. Kuznetsov won the offensive-zone faceoff, skated behind the net and batted Marcus Johansson’s shot out of midair to score his first career NHL playoff goal. Alzner scored his second goal of the playoffs at 10:31 of the second period to make it 2-1. Jay Beagle had the first shot on Halak, who gave up a rebound that Capitals forward Troy Brouwer took behind the net and passed to Alzner for the one-timer. Alzner, who is typically known as a stay-at-home defenseman, has three points in five playoff games, a career high. He chalks it up to good timing. Washington outshot New York 18-8 in the second period. Laich made it 3-1 at 2:42 of the third period, his first goal of the 2015 playoffs. Beagle corralled the puck and passed to Laich, who scored from the slot. Kuznetsov gave the Capitals a 4-1 lead with his second goal of the game at 6:19 of the third. Chimera scored on a wrist shot at 9:00 to make it 5-1. Mikhail Grabovski played in his first game of the series after he was activated from injured reserve. Lubomir Visnovsky did not play after leaving Game 4 with an upper-body injury.
Game 6 - Washington @ NY Islanders 1-3 - Sat, Apr 25 - Tied 3-3
John Tavares scored in the first period and played a huge role in Nikolay Kulemin's go-ahead goal in the third, giving the Islanders a 3-1 win against the Capitals in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference First Round in what turned out to be the final game ever played at Nassau Coliseum. Jaroslav Halak made 38 saves for the Islanders, who are 26-18 when facing elimination; they are 16-5 at the Coliseum. Cal Clutterbuck scored an empty-net goal with 52.6 seconds left. It was a particularly impressive win for New York, considering it played without injured defensemen Travis Hamonic, Lubomir Visnovsky and Calvin de Haan. Nick Leddy had two assists in 28:59 and Johnny Boychuk played 27:00.
John Carlson scored for the Capitals, who are 0-4 in Game 6 when holding a 3-2 lead in a best-of-7 series since 2006. Braden Holtby made 35 saves. Washington is 3-9 in Game 7, 2-7 at home. Kulemin, who had four goals since Jan. 19, broke a 1-1 tie with 9:27 remaining. Moments after Tavares was driven hard into the boards by Alex Ovechkin, Nick Leddy passed to Kulemin, who collected the puck in front and quickly beat Holtby with a forehand for his first Stanley Cup Playoff goal in his 13th game. Tavares gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead 6:57 into game. After taking a pass from Strome, Tavares skated into the slot and eluded Carlson before putting a wrist shot past Holtby, who was screened by Nelson. Carlson tied it before the end of the first on the Capitals' third power play of the period. With Tavares serving a slashing penalty, Carlson took a pass from Ovechkin and beat Halak with a wrist shot from inside the right point with 4.3 seconds left to make it 1-1. Mikhail Grabovski nearly put the Islanders back in front midway through the second period. He sent a wrist shot from the slot that Holtby couldn't control, but the puck rolled inches wide of the goal post. Halak kept the game scoreless with a save against Joel Ward less than five minutes into the first period. With the Capitals skating 2-on-1, Nicklas Backstrom sent a cross-ice feed to Ward, but Halak stretched across his crease to deny a one-time shot. Jay Beagle nearly tied it with 5:33 left in the third period when his wrist shot hit the crossbar on a rebound chance. Replays confirmed the puck did not cross the goal line. With de Haan and Visnovsky unavailable, defensemen Matt Donovan and Scott Mayfield made their NHL playoff debuts. Mayfield spent the entire regular season with Bridgeport of the American Hockey League. Colin McDonald played for the first time this postseason. The Islanders are moving to Barclays Center in Brooklyn next season, and have played their last game at their arena of 43 years.
Penalties
| 1st Period | ||
|---|---|---|
| 13:06 NYI | Brian Strait Hi-sticking against Joel Ward | |
| 16:30 NYI | Nikolay Kulemin Cross checking against Brooks Orpik | |
| 19:27 NYI | John Tavares Slashing against Evgeny Kuznetsov | |
| 2nd Period | ||
| 02:59 WSH | Jay Beagle Hooking against Kyle Okposo | |
| 09:17 NYI | Colin McDonald Roughing against Mike Green | |
| 09:17 WSH | Mike Green Roughing against Colin McDonald | |
| 11:55 NYI | Matt Martin Roughing against Michael Latta | |
| 11:55 WSH | Michael Latta Roughing against Matt Martin | |
| 18:24 NYI | Matt Donovan Misconduct (10 min) | |
| 3rd Period | ||
| 20:00 WSH | Marcus Johansson Roughing against Thomas Hickey | |
| 20:00 WSH | Troy Brouwer Roughing against Brock Nelson | |
| 20:00 WSH | Nicklas Backstrom Roughing against Johnny Boychuk | |
| 20:00 WSH | Alex Ovechkin Roughing against Kyle Okposo | |
| 20:00 NYI | Cal Clutterbuck Misconduct (10 min) | |
| 20:00 NYI | Brock Nelson Roughing against Troy Brouwer | |
| 20:00 NYI | Johnny Boychuk Cross checking against Nicklas Backstrom | |
| 20:00 NYI | Kyle Okposo Cross checking against Alex Ovechkin | |
| 20:00 NYI | Thomas Hickey Roughing against Marcus Johansson | |
Game 7 hasn't been kind historically to the Capitals, but they made sure there wouldn't be a premature ending to their season. Evgeny Kuznetsov broke a tie with 7:18 remaining and the Capitals held the Islanders to 11 shots on goal in a 2-1 win. The Capitals, who were 3-9 in Game 7 entering Monday, advance to face the New York Rangers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The start of that series is to be determined. Kuznetsov, who scored two goals earlier in the series, made a fantastic move to get around Frans Nielsen before roofing a wrist shot over goalie Jaroslav Halak from the slot. But the Capitals are advancing mainly because they saved their best defensive effort for the final game of the best-of-7 series. Capitals goalie Braden Holtby made 10 saves.
Nielsen scored for the Islanders, who have gone 22 years without a playoff series win and will not get to host another game at Nassau Coliseum. Halak made 24 saves. He entered 4-0 with a .977 save percentage when facing elimination against the Capitals and was 2-0 with a 1.50 GAA and .963 save percentage in Game 7s. After dominating for much of the first two periods, the Capitals finally broke through when Joel Ward scored with 1:25 remaining in the second period. Brooks Orpik took a slap shot from the left point that Halak denied, but Ward battled for position against Johnny Boychuk in front of the net and poked the rebound between Halak's skates for his first goal of the playoffs.
Washington outshot New York 12-4 in the second period. The Islanders had seven shots on goal through 40 minutes. Nielsen, who hadn't scored in the series, tied it 3:13 into the third. He took a pass from Thomas Hickey and let go a soft wrist shot that found its way between Holtby's skates to make it 1-1.
Halak made up for what could have been a devastating gaffe three minutes later, when he went to pursue a puck behind his net. But the puck hit the end boards awkwardly to Jay Beagle, who looked to have an open net only to have Halak slide back to kick out the shot with his right pad. The Islanders had the only power play of the game with 2:54 remaining when Capitals defenseman John Carlson was called for roughing. New York went 0-for-14 with the man-advantage in the series. And where the Islanders couldn't generate offense from their blue line, the Capitals did. Carlson assisted on Kuznetsov's goal and finished with a goal and three assists in the series. Halak made two big saves in the first 35 seconds, denying Karl Alzner from the left circle before Tom Wilson had a chance in the slot. Washington outshot New York 10-3 in the first period.
The Capitals nearly got on the board with more than eight minutes remaining in the second period when Curtis Glencross had a chance to put Mike Green's rebound past Halak. With an open net to shoot at, Glencross couldn't get enough on his shot. Glencross was inserted into the lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous three games. Michael Latta was scratched.
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