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 shoveled 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 minutes, 6 seconds remaining in the third.
Holtby stopped 40 shots and showed no effects of an illness that forced him to miss Game 2.
In other playoff games, the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Nashville Predators 4-2, the Montreal Canadiens downed the Ottawa Senators 2-1 in overtime and the Calgary Flames were 4-2 winners over the Vancouver Canucks.
Jonathan Toews had a goal and an assist as 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 their past 24 post-season 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 post-season 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.
In Ottawa, Ontario, Dale Weise scored the tying goal late in the third period and then won it 8:47 into overtime to lead Montreal to victory over the Senators.
Montreal have a chance to complete a four-game sweep tomorrow, with Game 4 in Ottawa.
Weise skated in on the left side and beat Craig Anderson with a shot inside the near post. Many of the Senators fans in the stands urged officials to call for a hand pass by Brandon Prust on the play, but the goal stood — and the Canadiens have a commanding lead.
Weise sent the game to overtime with his goal with 5:47 remaining in the third. Torrey Mitchell assisted on both goals, and Carey Price made 33 saves.
Clarke MacArthur opened the scoring for the Senators at 11:28 of the first period.
T.J, Brodie had a goal and an assist as Calgary beat Vancouver to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Sam Bennett scored his first NHL goal, and Brandon Bollig and Sean Monahan also had goals for the Flames, who hosted a playoff game for the first time since April 2009. Game 4 is also in Calgary today.
Shawn Matthias and Jannik Hansen had goals for the Canucks.
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