The New York Islanders came out on top of a 2-1 overtime decision over the Washington Capitals in Sunday's Game 3, jumping out to a 2-1 series lead in the process.
Star Performer: While John Tavares scored the overtime winner (see below), it was teammate Kyle Okposo who ran the gamut in this one.
The Islanders forward opened the scoring with a deft tip past Braden Holtby, and showed off his physicality with a thunderous check on Eric Fehr that knocked the Capitals forward out of the contest.
Okposo finished the game with a goal (his second of the playoffs), four shots and two hits.
Turning Point: Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk set a defensive tone late in the second period with a marvelous effort on an Alex Ovechkin opportunity.
Boychuk shadowed Ovechkin for a large part of the game, and limited the league-leading scorer to three shots on goal. The defenseman also recorded four blocked shots and five hits for good measure.
Goalie Comparison: Holtby was the busier goalie, but Jaroslav Halak came out with the win and the higher save percentage.
| GOALIE | SHOTS | GA | SAVES | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braden Holtby | 42 | 2 | 40 | 0.952 |
| Jaroslav Halak | 25 | 1 | 24 | 0.960 |
Top Highlight: We'll give this one to Tavares, who took advantage of a Holtby misplay and tallied the overtime game winner a mere 15 seconds into overtime.
(Courtesy: NHL.com)
The goal was Tavares' first of the playoffs, and a play Holtby wishes he could have a mulligan on.
Braden Holtby says in hindsight maybe he should have held onto the puck and taken faceoff on the OT winner. #CapitalsTalk
— Chuck Gormley (@ChuckGormleyCSN) April 19, 2015
Stat of the Night: Tavares scored the game winner before many were able to hit the couch for the fourth period, but it came a full six seconds off the record for fastest playoff goal.
Did You Know: John Tavares (@91Tavares) of the @NYIslanders... pic.twitter.com/HVBE4IqPs2
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 19, 2015
Series at a Glance:
Game 1: Islanders 4, Capitals 1
Game 2: Capitals 4, Islanders 3
Game 3: Islanders 2, Capitals 1 (OT)
Game 4: Tuesday April 21, 7:30 p.m. ET
Game 5*: Thursday, April 23, TBA
Game 6*: Saturday, April 25, TBA
Game 7*: Monday, April 27, TBA
