Monday's NHL playoffs roundup: Capitals take Game 7

Unburdened by the catastrophes of past Game 7s littering the Washington Capitals' playoff history, rookie Evgeny Kuznetsov delivered a breathtaking, series-clinching goal that got Alex Ovechkin's seal of approval.

"Pretty sick," Ovechkin declared.

Sure was.

Skating around every opponent on the ice as he swooped across from the right boards, past the slot and waited, waited, waited for the right moment to lift a rising shot over sprawling goalie Jaroslav Halak, Kuznetsov scored the go-ahead goal with 7:18 remaining, and Braden Holtby only needed to make 10 saves Monday night, leading the Capitals to a 2-1 victory in Washington that eliminated the New York Islanders in the first round.

"If you've never played hockey," Kuznetsov said, "you'll never feel this."

Joel Ward gave Washington a 1-0 lead late in the second period, and Frans Nielsen pulled New York even early in the third.

The Capitals now face the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers, who eliminated Washington from the 2012 and 2013 playoffs — in Game 7 each time.

"It's just hard to believe it's really over," said Islanders captain John Tavares, who had two goals and four assists in the series. "It was intense. It was physical. It was draining."

Tampa Bay 5, Detroit 2: Tyler Johnson scored two goals in his latest stellar performance and the Lightning held on for a victory over the Red Wings in Detroit, forcing a Game 7 in their first-round playoff series.

Johnson and Jason Garrison scored in the first period, and Johnson added another goal in the second to give the Lightning a 3-0 lead. Tomas Tatar scored twice for Detroit, but Alex Killorn answered with an unassisted goal with 5:09 remaining, and Cedric Paquette added an empty-netter.

Ben Bishop made 22 saves for the Lightning, who led the NHL in goals during the season but had been struggling to score on the Red Wings and goalie Petr Mrazek in this series.