Islanders take 3-0 lead

knowledged. "I run that play a little bit in practice and even in games, try to sneak behind the D, and time it perfectly on the blue line. Great heads-up play by Ebs, great touch on the pass."

For the first score, Lee skated into an opening on the right side of the net and tapped his stick to get the puck. Adam Pelech perfectly placed a pass on Lee's stick and he pushed it in to put New York ahead 1-0 with 5:10 left in the opening period.

"He put himself in a great spot — just had to get it to him," Pelech said.

Kuznetsov scored on a power play 5:50 into the second period on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle.

New York finished 0 for 5 on the power play while Washington was 1 of 2 with an extra skater.

The Capitals appeared to start the game sluggish and were fortunate Holtby bounced back with a solid performance after giving up four goals in each of the first two games.

Washington coach Todd Reirden will have to figure out how to help his team generate more scoring to stave off elimination perhaps without Nicklas Backstrom, who missed a second straight game in concussion protocol.

When Trotz resigned two years ago, the Capitals promoted his top assistant, Reirden, to take over from the bench. And now, Reirden's job is to try to outcoach his old boss.

"I put pressure on myself all the time," Reirden said. "I have belief in myself as a coach and belief in our team and our leadership group that we can focus on getting this one win here and seeing where that takes us from there."

• Lee has scored in all three games in the series against Washington . ... The Capitals scored just two goals in each of the first two games . ... New York center Brian Pinho played in his NHL game, becoming the fifth Islander to make his debut in the playoffs.