from espn.com
As the puck trickled between Braden Holtby’s pads and into the Washington Capitals’ goal early in the third period, tying Game 7 at one goal apiece, there was a moment where many in Verizon Center wondered if this was the beginning of yet another grisly piece of Game 7 history for this franchise.
As the New York Islanders celebrated the shocking gift, and the players looked at the scoreboard, one wondered: Would this be another opportunity squandered? The lead-in to another offseason spent ruminating why so much talent accomplished so little?
And then, almost instantly, the Capitals went back to work.
They nary missed a beat pushing forward, battering the Islanders, launching pucks at netminder Jarolsav Halak until emerging young start Evgeny Kuznetsov feinted one way and then curled off the side boards and raced unscathed across the middle of the ice before sending a sharp angle shot past Halak to give the Capitals a 2-1 win in this most important of Game 7s.
The Capitals killed off the game’s only penalty (John Carlson for roughing) in the final three minutes of regulation and ended up allowing just two shots after Frans Nielsen’s potential soul-sucking goal early in the third period, allowing the Islanders a paltry 11 shots on goal in total.
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