Headed back to D.C. for Game 7
New York Islanders captain John Tavares was still attempting to gather his bearings after being leveled in the corner, when he heard the familiar — and welcome — roar go up inside the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum for what could be the last time.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” the orange towel-waving crowd yelled in unison as part of its traditional goal chant.
Sparked by Tavares’ rush, Nikolay Kulemin scored the go-ahead goal with 9:27 left in a 3-1 victory against the Washington Capitals Saturday in Uniondale, N.Y., that forced a seventh game in the first-round playoff series.
When did Tavares know the Islanders had scored?
“Just when I saw everyone going crazy,” Tavares said. “I’m just happy it went in.”
Tavares had a goal and assist, Nick Leddy had two assists and Cal Clutterbuck scored into an empty net with 53 seconds left.
Now the two Metropolitan Division rivals who finished the season with 101 points each will meet Monday night in Washington to decide who advances to face the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers.
Tavares and the Islanders were excited to reward their home fans with a win.
The next objective is to advance to the second round and deliver at least two more home games before the Islanders make the 28-mile-move west to Barclays Center in Brooklyn next season.
“We want to keep this thing going. We want to be able to play in front of them even more,” defenseman Brian Strait said. “To not keep it going, it doesn’t matter. It’s a failure.”
John Carlson scored for the Capitals, who had won the previous two games, including a 5-1 win Thursday.
“To me, at the end of the day, their desperation level was higher than ours,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. “Now we’re both desperate.”
Kulemin’s goal capped a frantic series of plays, which began with a shoving match between numerous players in front of the benches.
Seeing the confusion at the benches, Tavares gathered the puck in his own zone and took off up the middle. Attempting to split two defenders, Tavares failed to get a shot off before being bowled over in the left corner by Alex Ovechkin and Karl Alzner.
No one seemed to notice that the puck squirted to Leddy at the left boards. He then fed Kulemin, who was all alone in front. Kulemin went across the top of the crease and wrapped the puck inside the left post.
Other games
Red Wings 4, Lightning 0: Petr Mrazek stopped 28 shots and visiting Detroit rebounded from a disappointing loss to shut down Tampa Bay and take a 3-2 lead in the series. Riley Sheahan, Drew Miller, Pavel Datsyuk and Danny DeKeyser scored for the Red Wings, who can close out the Eastern Conference matchup by winning Game 6 Monday night at home.
Blackhawks 4, Predators 3: Duncan Keith scored at 16:12 of the third, and host Chicago beat Nashville to win its first-round series, 4-2. Keith beat a screened Pekka Rinne with a laser from the left point. The defenseman, who had the winning goal in a 4-3 double-overtime victory in the series opener, also had two assists in the clinching game.The Blackhawks next face St. Louis or Minnesota.