Washington Capitals take Game 7 over Islanders, will face Rangers next

Skating around every opponent on the ice, rookie Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the go-ahead goal with less than 7 1/2 minutes left in Game 7, and Braden Holtby only needed to make 10 saves Monday night, lifting the Washington Capitals past the visiting New York Islanders, 2-1, in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Kuznetsov scored the sort of athletic, breathtaking goal his better-known Russian teammate, Alex Ovechkin, often does, taking the puck from the right boards and heading across the ice before sending a rising shot over sprawling goalie Jaroslav Halak.

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 next face the New York Rangers.

Tampa Bay 5, at Detroit 2: Tyler Johnson scored two goals in his latest stellar performance, and the Lightning held on for a victory, 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, which 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. Mrazek made a sensational save on Brian Boyle in the second period, but Tampa Bay had already taken a 2-0 lead by that point.