Caps' Greatest Hits - Vol. V - Airs Tonight on NBCSW

As the Memorial Day weekend winds down, the good folks at NBC Sports Washington are teeing up the finale of their five-part Caps' Greatest Hits series tonight. The final installment takes a look back at Game 7 of the Capitals' first-round Stanley Cup playoff series with the New York Islanders from April 27, 2015.

In his first-ever appearance in the playoffs that spring, center Evgeny Kuznetsov was the hero of the Caps' 2-1 victory in that deciding contest. Kuznetsov joins Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin to revisit the events of that night just over five years ago.

Throughout the 2014-15 season, the Caps and Islanders jockeyed for positioning in the Metropolitan Division and the clubs finished in a virtual tie for second place in the division, a dozen points behind the front-running New York Rangers. By virtue of a February shootout win over the Islanders in Washington, the Caps won the third tiebreaker between the two teams and earned home ice advantage for the series against New York.

Game 7 was the fourth of the seven games decided by a single goal, and the two teams split a pair of overtime tilts in Games 3 and 4 of the set. New York won Game 6 at Nassau Coliseum to force the decisive Game 7.

The 2014-15 season marked the beginning of the Barry Trotz era here in D.C., and current Caps head coach Todd Reirden joined Trotz's staff that season as well, helping to cut Washington's goals against total to 203, its lowest figure in four years and 37 fewer than the season before.

Washington's defensive improvement was never more evident than it was in Game 7 against the Isles, who finished the regular season with 252 goals, tied for third-most in the league. The Caps thoroughly stymied the Islanders' attack on this night, limiting them to a mere 11 shots on net in the game, fewest ever in a Game 7 in NHL history.

The Caps weren't able to muster much offense themselves against New York netminder Jaroslav Halak, who finished the previous season as a member of the Capitals. Joel Ward staked the Caps to a 1-0 lead late in the second, but the Isles managed to get the game even early in the third on one of their rare offensive-zone forays. That set the stage for Kuznetsov's heroics in the third.

To help you remember more of the specifics surrounding that thriller from five years ago, here's our coverage of the contest as we rolled it out then - the game preview from the night before the game, followed by our Skate Shavings after the morning skate and culminating with the game recap and the Postgame Notebook. Enjoy!

\\\\\\

April 27 vs. New York Islanders at Verizon Center

Time: 7:30 p.m.

TV: Comcast SportsNet

Radio:106.7 The Fan, 1500 WFED, Capitals Radio Network, Capitals Mobile App

Game 7, Eastern Conference quarterfinal series; series is tied at 3-3.

To the surprise of no one, the Capitals and the New York Islanders are headed for a decisive Game 7 in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. The Caps and Isles will hook up in a winner-moves-on Game 7 on Monday night at Verizon Center.

The winner moves on to face the New York Rangers in an Eastern Conference semifinal series while the loser gets to clean out its lockers, divulge the severity of its injuries and announce which of its players will be participating in the IIHF World Championship.

That's not much of a door prize.

Very little separated these two teams in the standings during the 2014-15 regular season; over 82 games the Capitals and the Islanders finished up with the same number of points (101), regulation and overtime wins (40) and road wins (22). Washington earned home ice advantage by virtue of a pair of shootouts; New York lost a shootout on home ice to the Columbus Blue Jackets on the final night of the regular season that would have given the Islanders home ice for this series if they had prevailed.

Instead, Washington gained home ice because of the NHL's third tiebreaker in such situations: points gained in head-to-head play during the regular season. The Caps had six points to New York's five in their four regular season meetings. Going into overtime of the last of those four head-to-head games on Feb. 21, both the Caps and Isles had five points. Washington earned a sixth by winning in a shootout that afternoon.

Very little has separated these teams in the six games to date in the series. Each has won three games, two of them at home. Each has scored 14 goals. Each has won a game in overtime. The series has been the most physical of any of the eight first-round series, and only four hits separate the two teams after six games. Only five even-strength shot attempts separate the Capitals and the Islanders after six games; no other series was or is that tight from that standpoint. For more than half of the series, the score has been tied or within a goal either way.

So here we are, ready for 60 minutes (or possibly and not at all surprisingly more) of hockey to decide which of these two teams will earn the privilege of moving on to face the Rangers later this week.

The Capitals didn't practice on Sunday, but they convened at Kettler Capitals Iceplex for a team meeting and to speak with the media.

"We just talked about [Game 6], parking it a little bit, and things we can do a little bit better," says Caps coach Barry Trotz. "But it's really in the hands of the players, for the most part.

"I've think we've [seen] pretty well everything from both sides. I think they're sick of talking about us and we're sick of talking about them. So we go down to Game 7. It's the way the series has played out and the way it's going to be. It's probably going to be a fitting ending to go to Game 7, because they're two very evenly matched teams."

New York's impressive 3-1 triumph over the Capitals in Saturday's Game 6 at Nassau Coliseum is the reason for Monday's Game 7. Playing without defensemen Travis Hamonic, Lubomir Visnovsky and Calvin de Haan, the Islanders held the Caps off the scoreboard entirely at even-strength. For a team that finished the regular season 23rd in goals against, worst among the NHL's 16 playoff qualifiers, and in a must-win scenario, it was a gutty and impressive feat.

"I think the guys who have stepped in did a great job," says New York blueliner Nick Leddy, whose 28:59 in ice time led all skaters on both sides in Game 6. "Obviously we have to keep playing great as a defense corps and as a team. I think the whole team played a great defensive game [Saturday], which also helps out, and [goalie Jaroslav Halak] played awesome."

Although they played just over 10 minutes each, Isles defensemen Matt Donovan and Scott Mayfield stepped in and performed admirable in Game 6, especially when you consider that Donovan had appeared in 12 and Mayfield zero NHL games in the last calendar year and that both were seeing their first ever Stanley Cup action.

The Caps admit to some remorse over the lost opportunity to close out the Islanders in Game 6, something they've failed to do each of the last four times they've played a Game 6 with a chance to end the series.

"There always is whenever you get yourself into an elimination game and you're not able to close it out," says Caps right wing Troy Brouwer. "They're real tough games to play; the other team doesn't want to go home. And [Monday] night is going to be [a matter of] both teams don't want to go home. The intensity is going to be up, guys are going to want to play hard on both sides and nobody wants to go home right now. But we want to be the team that is moving on."

The last time the Caps closed out a team in six games when they eliminated the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference final in 1998.

In each of the three games it has lost in this series, Washington has scored just one goal. Power play opportunities have been hard to come by in this series for both teams, and the Caps have scored a dozen five-on-five tallies in the first six games of the series. Three of those were scored in a come-from-behind 4-3 win in Game 2 and five came in a 5-1 rout in Game 5. The Caps combined to score just four even-strength goals on Halak in the other four games of the series.

The longer a series goes on, the harder it seems to be to put the puck in the back of the net. Dating back to 2010, Washington has scored just 11 goals in its last nine Games 6-7.

So how do the Caps go about generating enough offense to win on Monday and live to fight another day?

"[When] we're breaking down [the Islanders'] structure," says Brouwer. "Through the neutral zone, we're either getting odd-man rushes or in the zone we're getting guys winning one-on-one battles. And last game I don't think we had enough won one-on-one battles.

"We've got to continue to do that, continue to get in on their defensemen, try and make them turnover pucks, get ourselves in areas and situations where we can recover pucks and take them to the net because Halak is playing real well. Their defensemen are playing well in front of him, blocking shots and clearing out the front of the net. We've just got to battle to get to the interior and continue and continue and continue to try and throw pucks on net and create some offense."

When the Caps are at their best and their most dangerous, they're working the opposing defense via the forecheck and the cycle game; using their size, speed and heaviness to force opposing defensemen to make plays under duress. That element of their game was largely absent in Game 6.

"I think for the most part we got the puck deep," says Caps center Nicklas Backstrom, "but we were skating by ourselves, I think. We've got to come more together and at least three guys attack. That's what I thought; we were too separated, the defensemen and the forwards. That's something we've got to do better. We've got to work better as a line."

At the other end of the ice, Braden Holtby has been solid for the Caps in this series. Although he sports a 2-3 record, he has a 1.75 GAA and a .945 save pct. in the five games in which he has appeared. Holtby has fashioned at least a .946 save pct. in each of his last four starts, allowing just six goals in the four games.

Getting an early goal would help, too. Washington was 37-2-4 when scoring first during the regular season, but New York has scored first in five of the six games in the series. The Islanders have netted that first goal of the game before the seven-minute mark of the first in four of the six games.

"It would be probably the ideal start to come out and score right away and score often," says Caps defenseman Karl Alzner. "But it hasn't gone that way for us in a lot of the games.

"The plan is to come out and come out hard, and continue to come the entire game and not take the foot off. If that means getting a goal right away, then perfect. If it means not having anything on the board but playing good hockey, then we'll take that, too."

Come Monday, there will be no shortage of energy in the stands or on the ice.

"They're the games you want to play in, really," says Caps defenseman Mike Green. "We have a great challenge on our hands here. We're playing them, we're two evenly matched teams and it's going to make for a great event [Monday] night."

\\\\\\

SKATE SHAVINGS

Game 7 -Over the course of four decades - the last one in particular - Game Sevens have been more than a bit of an ordeal for the fervent followers of the Washington Capitals. There's no need to expand any further on this here, no need to sling salt into a still open wound.

Players aren't interested in talking about it very much, and why should they be? Although a few have toiled here for the better part of the last decade, none has been here for 40 years.

"We're not worried about the historic element," says Caps right wing Troy Brouwer, in shutting down a reporter's attempt to delve into the past.

"A lot of guys haven't been a part of that history," says Caps coach Barry Trotz. "I haven't. So it doesn't mean anything to me, really."

Unless the experience or the history of past Game Sevens can play a part in helping them in tonight's decisive Game 7, it's generally best to look forward.

"As I say, I wasn't here for some of the other stuff," says Trotz. "But I think they've learned, I hope they've learned. You learn something from every series. Now, what do you learn? Different guys will earn different things. I think you have to embrace everything. Embrace the Game 7."

Karl Alzner's first Stanley Cup playoff game was Game 7 of the 2010 Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against Montreal. Tonight will be his fifth Game 7, and tonight marks the fourth straight Caps playoff series that has gone the distance.

"It's the game we all wait for," says Alzner. "You don't want to be in any do-or-die games, but at the same time, it's super exciting just because there is so much at stake. You see who can rise to that occasion; that challenge. And knowing that you might have that excited feeling at the end of the game is something that drives you.

"It's a lot of fun, but obviously a little nerve-wracking. But you can't play nervous because we've seen what happens when we've played nervous. We've gotten lit up before in games like that. It's going out there and just playing, having fun, being confident. When we do that, we put together some good games."

Caps fans that have lived and died with their team for those 40 years or any fraction thereof will hope that tonight's is one of the "good games." Ideally, a few more of those good games - starting with tonight's - will make history seem more distant and less of an irritant, and something the players will be asked about with far less frequency going forward.

Win, win.

Home Ice - Washington is hosting tonight's Game 7 because of a couple of shootouts that took place several weeks apart during the NHL's 82-game regular season. The Islanders could have wrapped up home ice with any kind of victory in their regular season finale, an April 11 game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Long Island's Nassau Coliseum. But New York squandered a 3-1 third-period lead and lost the game in a shootout, 5-4.

That loss left the Isles all even with the Capitals with 101 regular season points. The second tiebreaker is regulation and overtime wins, and both New York and Washington finished the season with 40 of those.

The third tie-breaker is points gained in head-to-head play over the course of the 82-game season. The Caps and Isles met four times in 2014-15, with each team winning twice. New York won both games played at Nassau in overtime, and the Caps downed the Isles in regulation in a Nov. 28 game at Verizon Center.

That left both teams with four points in three games going into their final game against one another on Feb. 21 at Verizon Center. The Caps led 2-1 heading into the final minute of that contest, but the Isles' Ryan Strome knotted the game with New York netminder Jaroslav Halak pulled for an extra attacker.

That gave both teams five points in head-to-head play up to that point. Overtime solved nothing, so the game went to a shootout. It was in that postgame skills competition that Washington's Evgeny Kuznetsov supplied the difference in the contest - and ultimately, the final standings - when he was the only one of six shooters who was able to light the lamp.

Just For One Day - After the Caps' Saturday afternoon setback to the Isles in Game 6 of this series, Washington netminder Braden Holtby was asked about his team's mindset for a Game 7 at Verizon Center.

"We'll regroup and play the same game we did in Game 5," said Holtby. "There were flashes of it tonight, but I don't think we were tight enough defensively. We had our chances, and we'll have to make sure we have some heroes in Game 7."

Eighteen Washington skaters and Holtby himself will have a chance to etch themselves into the Caps' all-time postseason pantheon of heroic play tonight in the decisive Game 7 against the Isles, as Sergei Fedorov did against the Rangers in 2009 and as Joel Ward did in 2012 against the Bruins.

"Not being afraid to step up in the situation," says Caps right wing Troy Brouwer, who supplied the game-winning goal in the third period of Game 5 of the 2012 ECQF series against Boston. "And I know everybody in here wants to be a hero and everybody in here wants to be the guy that sends their team to the next round. And I know guys in here have done it before. But you can't be afraid to make mistakes. You can't be afraid to do what you do.

"If guys sit back and aren't playing the way that they should be playing in fear of making a mistake, then it's only going to hurt your team. So guys have got to be confident in here, go out there and want to be the difference maker and that's going to push us through."

Caps defenseman Tim Gleason has one Stanley Cup playoff goal during his NHL career, but it was an overtime game-winner scored for Carolina against New Jersey six springs ago.

"I think it's a group effort," says Gleason. "Whoever scores, if that happens, that's awesome. We aren't looking for a particular hero. But it could be a big save, a blocked shot, a little chip out of the zone that makes a difference. It's not just scoring a goal, it's doing the little things, and I think sticking to the system is a huge part of the hockey game."

Washington blueliner Brooks Orpik has also had playoff experience as a hero. While with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2013, he netted the overtime game-winner in Game 6 of the ECQF series, a goal that knocked the Islanders from the playoffs two springs ago.

"I don't think you know who it is going to be," says Orpik. "I think everybody's just got to concentrate on being at their best. Sometimes you get an opportunity, and sometimes you don't. If you don't get an opportunity, you've got to do other things to help the team win.

"I don't think anyone in this room cares who scores or how we win, just as long as we got the job done. I think you've got to be ready when your number is called and if you do get an opportunity, hopefully make the most of it. But I think it just boils down to everybody being fully focused and ready to go here."

Thin Margin - Tonight will be the 89th game the Caps and Islanders have played since the season started in October, and it will be the last game until next October for one of these teams.

A tremendously thrilling, entertaining, emotional and physical series comes to a close tonight in the District, and it should surprise no one that it's going to take seven games to determine which club moves forward and which is finished for 2014-15.

As mentioned earlier, the two teams went down to the third tiebreaker to determine home ice advantage for this series. Each team also won 22 road games during the regular season, and each has won one road game during this series.

Both clubs have scored 14 goals in the series. Two of the Caps' goals came on the power play and two of the Isles went into a vacant Washington net, so each team has netted a dozen goals with five skaters on each side of the ice.

Each team has had 13 power play opportunities in the series. The Caps have managed 25 shots on goal on the power play to 22 for the Islanders. The Caps have delivered four more hits than the Islanders and the Isles have managed five more even-strength shot attempts than the Capitals. The Caps have managed seven more shots on net overall than New York in the six games. Each side has had eight different goal scorers.

And so, Game 7 it is.

"I don't believe in momentum or pressure too much," says Islanders coach Jack Capuano. "I think that we've got a relentless bunch of guys in here and I've said that from day one. We've got a lot of character and leadership, and our guys have done a great job of holding each other accountable. For me, we're going into Game 7. If you asked us before the series, we'd take it. Now the execution and the battle level is going to increase to a high level, and we have to match the intensity level of the opposition."

"Just as I look forward to a Game 7, it's an opportunity for both teams to close out another team. Whoever is willing to put more on the line will come out with the victory. That's in its simplest terms. Whoever is willing to put more on the line, lay it on the line, the more opportunity you're going to have a chance to win."

Coaches Coach, Players Play -After 88 games, both sides are familiar with their team's respective systems, their coach's respective tendencies and what generally does and doesn't work for them. And after 10 games of head-to-head competition, including six in the last 12 days, the two sides are quite familiar with one another.

Trotz and Capuano will have a few pregame words for their charges tonight, but beyond that, the game will be played and almost certainly decided on the ice.

"From a coaching standpoint, we will have our meetings, we will give our guys the adjustments we need to make and give them the structure they need," says Capuano. "And then you get out of their way and just let them play the game. They've done it all year long and they've done a great job. As a coach, you just try to prepare them like you've done all year to give them a chance to win and they're the guys that settle the score."

"I just want them to leave their best game out there," says Trotz. "Leave your best game out there, and if it's good enough, you win and if it's not you can look back and say, 'Hey, I left it all out there. I don't have an ounce of anything left to give.' And if you do that, then the result, good of bad, you can keep your head up high."

All Lined Up - Coming off a 3-1 loss in Game 6, and having scored exactly one goal in each of its three losses in the series, Washington will make a change to its fourth line for tonight's Game 7.

Veteran left wing Curtis Glencross draws back in tonight after sitting out the last three contests. Glencross will replace Michael Latta in the lineup, and Brooks Laich will slide from the left side to the center ice spot. Here's how we expect the Caps to look against the Islanders tonight:

Forwards

8-Ovechkin, 19-Backstrom, 42-Ward

90-Johansson, 92-Kuznetsov, 25-Chimera

65-Burakovsky, 83-Beagle, 20-Brouwer

22-Glencross, 21-Laich, 43-Wilson

Defensemen

44-Orpik, 74-Carlson

27-Alzner, 2-Niskanen

6-Gleason, 52-Green

Goaltenders

70-Holtby

31-Grubauer

Scratches: 35-Peters, 46-Latta

Injured: 4-Erskine, 9-Orlov, 16-Fehr

\\\\\\

RECAP

In a dozen prior Game Sevens over the course of their four-decade history in the National Hockey League, the Washington Capitals had never scored more than two goals in any of those series-deciding games. A lack of offense in those games led to a dismal 3-9 record.

In Game 7 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the New York Islanders on Monday night at Verizon Center, the Caps once again failed to score more than two goals.

This time, it wasn't a problem.

Washington thoroughly stifled the Islanders' attack, limiting New York to a mere 11 shots on net - only three of them from forwards - and one goal. Evgeny Kuznetsov's dazzling goal at 12:42 of the third period stood up as the game-winning goal as the Caps eliminated the Isles with a 2-1 victory.

"We came out way harder, way more physical," says Caps center Nicklas Backstrom. "Especially in the first two periods, we were on top of their d-men [defense]. Made it hard for them to make plays. I think that's what sets the tone for this game. Obviously, they came back and tied it up, but we found a way to win. I thought we played a pretty good game tonight, and we deserved it."

The Capitals held John Tavares, the league's second leading scorer and fourth leading goal scorer during the regular season, without as much as a shot attempt. Tavares skated 20:44 on the night, the most of any forward on either side.

During the regular season, the Islanders featured the NHL's fourth most potent attack with an average of 2.99 goals per game.

"It was a phenomenal game," says Caps goaltender Braden Holtby. "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]."

Washington had a brief early flurry in Monday's game, getting a couple decent chances on their first shift. Karl Alzner had a shot from the left point and Tom Wilson squeezed off a quick shot from the slot. The Isles never really countered; each of their three shots on net in the first period came in the first 4:23 of the game, and only one - a Kyle Okposo deflection - came from inside of 50 feet.

The two sides played a scoreless first for just the second time in seven games, and the Caps owned a 10-3 advantage in shots on net at the end of the first and a 23-10 advantage in shot attempts.

Although the Caps didn't lead after the first, they didn't trail either. Coming into Game 7, the Islanders had owned a lead for 139:24 (37.5%) of the series compared to Washington's 48:33 (13.1%). That disparity caused the Caps to chase the game early in several of the first six games of this series.

In the early minutes of the third, Washington continued to pour on the pressure in the New York zone.

The Islanders' first shot of the second period came just 23 seconds in, ending a stretch of 16 minutes without a shot on net. Holtby easily turned that one aside, it came from 144 feet away off the stick of Isles defenseman Brian Strait.

The Caps kept hounding the Isles in their own end in the second period, forcing New York into exercising its timeout at 6:45 of the middle frame after an icing call. The Isles were under siege for virtually that entire time.

New York tilted the table back just a bit, and Washington called its timeout just past the midpoint of the contest because it had a pair of weary defensemen on the ice after an icing call on the Caps. The Islanders' shot on goal that preceded that timeout was their first in more than eight and a half minutes.

Finally, in the penultimate minute of the second period, Washington's dogged persistence in the attack zone paid off.

Alex Ovechkin gathered the puck in the right wing corner near the goal line and rifled a perfect, cross-ice diagonal pass to Brooks Orpik at the left point. With big rig Joel Ward providing traffic in front of the cage and Isles goaltender Jaroslav Halak, Orpik wound up and delivered a drive to the net. Halak made the stop, but Ward was right there to jimmy it through his legs for a 1-0 Washington lead at 18:35 of the second.

Seconds after Ward's goal, Isles defenseman Johnny Boychuk manufactured the Islanders' fourth shot on goal of the frame, their only shot on net in the last nine minutes of the second period.

By the end of the second period, the Caps' lead in shots on net expanded to 21-7 and their lead in shot attempts was 47-20.

As you'd expect, the Islanders came out with desperation in the third.

New York had the puck a bit more in the early portion of the third, but shots on goal were still hard to come by. But the Isles pulled even on a rush goal at 3:13 when Frans Nielsen - the only New York forward to manage a shot on goal in the game's final 57 minutes and 18 seconds - slipped a shot through Holtby's legs on a rare look from the slot.

With the game all even, the Caps went back to work.

Kuznetsov lifted Washington back on top late in the frame. Jason Chimera won a puck battle in the right wing corner and nudged the puck up the right wing half wall. Kuznetsov curled off of Nielsen and carved toward the net, finding more room in the middle of the ice than every other player on both sides had combined to find to that point of the evening. He waited until he drew Halak from the crease and snapped a shot past the goaltender and a diving Boychuk to give the Caps a lead they would not relinquish.

Caps blueliner John Carlson was whistled for a roughing minor at 17:06 of the third, giving the Isles a late power play chance. But Washington snuffed that out without as much as a shot on goal; Boychuk's shot from 61 feet away with 4:46 remaining was New York's lone shot on net in the game's final 13:08.

"They came out hard and played aggressive," says Tavares of the Capitals. "They fed off the energy. We seemed like we didn't want to make a mistake. It put us behind the eight ball, but we got back in it and we had a better third period. We just didn't make enough plays down the stretch."

"They had 11 shots," says Caps coach Barry Trotz. "That says it all right there. We stayed in the game plan, and we talked about no matter what happens in the series because we were so evenly matched, leave our best game out there, and if it wasn't good enough tonight, we could live with that. But if it was good enough, then we'll get a chance to move on.

"I thought that was our best game [of the series], and we let it all out there, and full credit to the whole group."

\\\\\\

POSTGAME NOTEBOOK

First Round Down - The opening round of the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs is often the most difficult to get through. Some of the series - like Washington's first-round match-up with the New York Islanders - pit a pair of teams that have amassed more than 100 points over the course of the regular season, and very good hockey teams are eliminated annually in the first round.

With their 2-1 victory over the Islanders on Monday night at Verizon Center in the decisive Game 7 of what was a marvelous series, the Caps move on to fight another day. They'll face the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers in an Eastern Conference semifinal series.

"Not to get ahead of ourselves, but [for] a lot of teams - even teams that win the Stanley Cup - sometimes the first round is the toughest round to win, for whatever reason," says Caps defenseman Brooks Orpik. "You look around the league, there were a lot of good teams this year knocked out in the first round. It's probably just the parity and the balance across the league right now. Teams are so close and you see a lot of long series in the first round."

Having eliminated the Islanders, the Caps can now afford themselves a collective exhale. But then it's right back to work. Although they won't be on the ice on Tuesday, the Caps will start the task of preparing to face the Rangers.

"Very temporary," says Caps defenseman Matt Niskanen of that collective exhale. "I don't know when we are going to start, probably Thursday. We'll enjoy this tonight, try to sleep well and get our rest, and I would guess [Tuesday] we would start gearing up already - mentally at least - for the Rangers.

"They're a very tough opponent. We'll have to mentally get ready for them and physically get a little bit of rest here and then get geared up again for Game 1 in that series."

From Russia, With Love -Caps center Evgeny Kuznetsov supplied the game-winning goal on a brilliant individual effort at 12:42 of the third. After linemate Jason Chimera won a puck battle in the right wing corner, he slid it up the wall for Kuznetsov.

Curling off the half wall and cutting to the middle, Kuznetsov was surprised to find both time and space. As he scooted through the slot, the Isles tried desperately to close on him, but Kuznetsov patiently pulled the puck to the far side of the net, got Isles goaltender Jaroslav Halak down and out of position, then snapped a shot over him.

"It's unbelievable," says Kuznetsov. "If you've never played hockey, you never feel this. I'm so excited when I scored and when we win the game."

The goal was Kuznetsov's third of the series; he netted a pair in Washington's 5-1 Game 5 win.

"From day one, I was shocked by how mature he was, how well spoken," says Caps defenseman John Carlson of Kuznetsov. "He came in, call him what you want, but he was one of the most talented players in the league as soon as he got here. I don't think it took him long to adjust to this style of game. I'm just happy for him because you could tell from day one that he wanted to do whatever it took to win, not just for himself but for us."

According to Elias Sports Bureau, Kuznetsov is the first NHL rookie to net a Game 7 game-winner in a game decided by a single goal since New Jersey's Adam Henrique did so in double-overtime against Florida in the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Blueline Erosion - New York's backline became more and more depleted with injuries as the series wore on, leaving a hard and heavy workload for New York's top defensive duo of Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk and causing the Isles to cast their lot with a largely inexperienced third pairing of Matt Donovan and Scott Mayfield heading into Saturday's Game 6 at Nassau Colsieum.

While those four and especially Thomas Hickey and Brian Strait played well in the final two games of the series, Washington's heaviness and its offensive-zone presence eventually wore the Islanders down, and ultimately, out.

"We knew they were depleted on the back end," says Orpik. "We made it pretty easy on them [in Game 6]. We watched a lot of film where we didn't really finish many hits on them last game. They were tired; you could see it on some of their guys. Some of those guys played so many minutes and they were getting hit so much. I think it just took its toll on them as the series and as the game went on."

Boychuk was on the ice for both Washington goals, and he ended up sprawled on the ice after both of those tallies. He and Leddy combined for a total of eight shifts of more than 90 seconds in length in Monday's game.

Boychuck averaged 26 minutes a night in this series, and Leddy 24:39. Hickey averaged 21:25. During the regular season, Boychuk was at 21:40, Leddy was at 20:21 and Hickey was at 18:55.

Thoroughly Throttled - The Caps limited the Islanders to just 11 shots on net in Monday's game. That's the fewest managed by any team ever in a Game 7 in NHL history.

New York had three shots on net in the first 4:23 of the game. After Kyle Okposo's tip-in bid at 2:42, the Isles got only two more shots on goal from forwards - both from Frans Nielsen - for the rest of the night.

Hickey's shot from 79 feet away came at 4:23 of the first, and it was the Isles' final shot on net of the first. New York's next shot came exactly 16 playing minutes later, at the 23-second mark of the second period. That Strait shot came from 144 feet away.

Boychuk had five of New York's 11 shots, none of them closer than 36 feet. His five shots accounted for five of New York's six over the game's final 29 minutes; Nielsen's goal at 3:13 of the third was the other.

"They had really good zone time, they grinded it out down low, they used their size down low and they used their defensemen in the offensive zone," says Islanders coach Jack Capuano of the Capitals.

Islanders captain John Tavares finished the regular season one point shy of the NHL's scoring lead, and he finished fourth in the league with 38 goals. Despite getting 20:44 in ice time - more than any other forward on either club - in an elimination game, Tavares failed to register as much as a shot attempt in Monday's Game 7.

The average distance of the Islanders' 11 shots on net in the game was 55 feet.

"I've never seen a perfect game, but that was executing the game plan pretty darn well," says Niskanen. "Just forechecking, it sets up our game. That's our strength.

"There have been moments this year and moments in the series when it has been just [Caps goalie Braden Holtby], and there have been moments where's it's been just a few guys. Today was a total commitment by everyone, with and without the puck to do the right things and [play] how we want to play. You saw the result of what we can do. We had some things going our way today for sure, but we were aggressive with our game plan, really determined in the right areas and the puck was 200 feet away from our net for a lot of our game. That's a good recipe."

Holtbeast -Although he was bothered by illness in Game 1 and missed Game 2 because of that illness, Holtby surrendered two or fewer goals in each of the last five games of the series.

Holtby's .943 save pct. in the playoffs to date is the best among all NHL goaltenders who'll be moving on to the second round. His 1.63 GAA is second only to the Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist (1.53), Washington's next challenge in these playoffs.

Killing It - The Caps killed off all 14 New York power plays in the series, including one final one when John Carlson was sent off for roughing at 17:06 of the third. Washington was the only NHL team to get through the first round without surrendering a power-play goal, and this marks the first time in Capitals franchise history that the team has been perfect on the penalty kill in a series of any length

Century City -Washington's Monday night win over the Islanders was the 100th playoff victory of the team's franchise history.

By The Numbers - Joel Ward scored the Caps' first goal, the second Game 7 goal of his career. The first came in overtime and lifted the Capitals to a 2-1 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins in the first round in 2012 … Niskanen led the Caps with 23:05 in ice time … Chimera and Ward led Washington in shots on net with four; Chimera led the way with nine shot attempts … Ovechkin and Orpik paced the Caps with seven hits each … Orpik and Carlson led the Caps with four blocked shots each … Nicklas Backstrom won 16 of 21 (76%) face-offs and Jay Beagle won 10 of 14 (71%).