John Tavares and the New York Islanders force a Game 7 vs. Washington. (USATSI)
Every night during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Eye On Hockey writers Adam Gretz and Chris Peters will bring you up to speed everything you need to know about all of the action around the NHL. Here’s what you need to know about Capitals vs. Islanders, Game 6.
Washington Capitals vs. New York Islanders, Game 6
Islanders 3, Capitals 1 | Series tied 3-3 | Game 7 Monday
Game 6 in a nutshell: If it turns out that it was the final game at Nassau Coliseum, the New York Islanders went out in style. They forced a Game 7 in their first round series with the Washington Capitals with a 3-1 win thanks to goals from John Tavares, Nikolay Kulemin and Cal Clutterbuck and a 38-save performance from starting goalie Jaroslav Halak.
Turning point: This has been an extremely physical series and Game 6 was certainly no exception. Sometimes, though, when you go around chasing hits it ends up coming back to bite you. This happened to the Capitals on Saturday and played a pretty big role in the result. Tavares’ first goal came after Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik went for a big hit at the blue line and was left out of position, while the game-winning goal was the result of the Capitals focusing on hitting Tavares behind the net and forgetting to play defense in front of it. Physical play is good. But you have to pick your spots.
Three things we learned
1. The fine line between winning and losing in the NHL playoffs was on display Saturday afternoon. With the game tied 1-1 midway through the third period, Washington’s Mike Green had a wide open shot in the slot for what should have been a prime scoring opportunity but simply fired it wide of the net. It’s the type of chance he does not typically miss. Then, after the Islanders took the lead, Jay Beagle actually beat Halak only to have the shot hit underneath the crossbar and bounce straight down, staying out of the net. And with that, the series is back to Washington.
2. Simply put, New York’s best player (Tavares) was better than Washington’s best player (Ovechkin). Tavares scored a goal and helped set up the winner, while Ovechkin was on the ice for all three of the Islanders’ goal and was only a 40 percent possession player.
3. Jaroslav Halak bounced back in a big way for the Islanders. After getting benched in the Islanders’ Game 5 blowout loss, Halak was big when he needed to be Saturday. That’s pretty much what you’re going to get with Halak. When he’s off of his game, it can be very ugly (as it was in Game 5). When he’s on, he can be unbeatable and a total game-changer. And now he has a chance to ruin another Game 7 for the Capitals in Washington.
Video of the game: John Tavares opens the scoring for the Islanders in the first period with a nice cut across the middle of the ice.
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