Apr 19, 2015 5 min read

New York Islanders captain John Tavares scored 15 seconds into overtime to lift New York to a 2-1 win in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series over the visiting Washington Capitals Sunday.

Kyle Okposo also scored for the Islanders, who took a 2-1 series lead.

The game was decided quickly in the extra period, and after the Islanders allowed the Capitals to tie the game on Nicklas Backstrom’s goal with 6:06 remaining in the third.

In overtime, Nikolay Kulemin’s initial shot was stopped by Braden Holtby, who then tried to direct the rebound into the right corner. The puck went to Tavares, who shoveled it in before Holtby could cover the right post.

Game 4 is Tuesday at Long Island.

With the crowd chanting “MVP! MVP!” Tavares became the first Islanders player to score an overtime goal in the playoffs since David Volek sealed a Game 7 second-round 4-3 win over Pittsburgh May 14, 1993. New York lost its previous six overtime playoff games.

And the Islanders won it after nearly blowing a lead for the second straight game following a 4-3 loss at Washington Friday. The Capitals scored three straight goals to overcome a 3-1 second-period deficit.

On Sunday, the Islanders were outshooting the Capitals 33-13 through 40 minutes, and went ahead on Okposo’s goal 12:37 into the second period. Okposo scored by deflecting in Lubomir Visnovsky’s shot from the top of the right circle.

New York then spent much of the third period on its heels. Washington capitalized on Backstrom’s goal with 6:06 remaining.

Circling around the top to the high slot and waiting for a crowd to develop in front, Backstrom snapped a riser that banked in off the crossbar. Alex Ovechkin was in front providing a screen.

The goal came while the Capitals were generating plenty of pressure. And it came 20 seconds after Washington’s Mike Green sneaked in from the right point and had an open side of the net to shoot at, but fired the puck directly into goalie Jaroslav Halak, who was late getting across.

The Islanders had plenty of the jump they showed in Game 1 at Washington on Wednesday, when they rolled to a 4-1 win.

They generated speed through the neutral zone and forechecked relentlessly. New York had a 10-0 edge in shots before Washington registered its first shot a little over eight minutes in

That was a switch from Game 2, in which the Capitals outshot the Islanders 30-14 over the final two periods.

Holtby stopped 40 shots and showed no effects of an illness that forced him to miss Game 2. And the Capitals regular-season workhorse was busy from the start.

Chicago 4, Nashville 2: Jonathan Toews had a goal and an assist, and the Chicago Blackhawks used a three-goal second period to beat the visiting Nashville Predators, 4-2, for a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Marian Hossa had two assists and Scott Darling made 35 saves to help Chicago win for the 20th time in its last 24 postseason home games. Brandon Saad, Brent Seabrook and Andrew Desjardins also scored in an impressive response by the Blackhawks after Friday night’s 6-2 loss in Nashville.

Darling, a native of the Chicago suburb of Lemont, made his first postseason start after Corey Crawford was ineffective in the first two games of the series. The rookie also replaced Crawford in Game 1 and made 42 saves as the Blackhawks rallied for a 4-3 victory in double overtime.

Mike Ribeiro and Mattias Ekholm scored for Nashville, and Pekka Rinne had 26 saves.

The Predators’ convincing victory in Game 2 led Chicago coach Joel Quenneville to try a different look for the Blackhawks’ first home game of the playoffs. Darling was in goal, and forwards Antoine Vermette and Desjardins entered the lineup after they were healthy scratches for the first two games.

The Predators were without star defenseman Shea Weber and forward Mike Fisher, who were sidelined by lower-body injuries. Fisher is day to day, but Weber did not travel with the team to Chicago and likely will be out for Game 4 Tuesday night as well.

Montreal 2, Ottawa 1: Dale Weise scored the tying goal late in the third period and then won it 8:47 into overtime, leading the Montreal Canadiens to a 2-1 victory in their first-round playoff series.

Montreal has a chance to complete a four-game sweep Wednesday, with Game 4 in Ottawa.

Weise sent the game to overtime with his goal with 5:47 remaining in the third. Torrey Mitchell assisted on both goals, and Carey Price made 33 saves.

Clarke MacArthur opened the scoring for the Senators at 11:28 of the first period. Craig Anderson, making his first start of the playoffs, made 47 saves in the loss.

Montreal dominated at times in the second and third periods, outshooting Ottawa 31-15 through the final 40 minutes of regulation.