Nikita Kucherov

Monday's best: Caps top Isles in Game 7; Bolts stay alive vs. Wings

Published Apr. 28, 2015 2:59 a.m. ET

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Best game: Washington 2, New York Islanders 1. Most of the Capitals and Islanders were children the last time these teams met in a playoff Game 7. Twenty-eight years after New York won the Easter Epic in quadruple overtime, the Capitals finally got their revenge. Evgeny Kuznetsov patiently waited out Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak as he glided across the slot from right to left. With Halak down and Kuznetsov's angle worsening by the millisecond, he lifted a wrist shot over the prone goalie with 7:18 left to lift Washington to a 2-1 victory and into a second-round meeting with the New York Rangers. It was just Washington's second playoff-series victory over the Islanders in six tries. "It was unbelievable," Kuznetsov told The Washington Post. "If you’ve never played the hockey, you’ve never feel this. I don't know how to say. I'm so excited."

Best stat: 11. That's how many shots the Islanders managed in Game 7 against the Capitals. Credit Washington with suffocating defense, but really? Eleven shots in a do-or-die game? Even worse, only three came from New York forwards. At least the Islanders gave their fans a win in Game 6 -- the final game at Nassau Coliseum.

Best at being worst: NHL officials. Sure, it's the playoffs and officials want the players to decide games, but does that have to mean prison rules are in effect? There were a handful of dangerous plays in Monday's action that somehow escaped punishment, with two of the more deplorable ones coming from Washington's Alex Ovechkin and Detroit's Niklas Kronwall. We'll get into those below, but how does the NHL expect to maintain the integrity of the game when it allows players to injure one another through egregious acts without penalty? There was only one, late third-period penalty called in the Capitals-Islanders Game 7. If you watched it, you know it wasn't exactly a Lady Byng classic.

Best visual: Petr Mrazek, Detroit. This first-period save was just ridiculous. Tampa forward Brian Boyle took a feed from Vladislav Namestnikov and found himself all alone in front of Mrazek. With a little stick fake, he got Mrazek moving to his left and cut back the other way to shoot into an open net. At the last minute, Mrazek stuck his paddle out and stopped the puck, robbing Tampa of a 3-0 lead. If Boyle had just slid the puck along the ice . . .

Best quote, via FOX Sports Florida: "There was just a quiet calm from the opening puck drop." — Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper of his team's 5-2 win in Detroit that forced a Game 7 in the series.

Best clutch player, Tyler Johnson, C, Tampa Bay: Every time the Lightning have fallen behind a game in this series, Johnson responded with a two-goal game. He did it in Game 2, he did it Game 4 and he did it again on Monday in Game 6 in Detroit with the Lightning's season hanging in the balance. There has been plenty of attention paid to Steven Stamkos' goose egg in the postseason, but Johnson has stepped up in the Lightning captain's offensive absence.

Best illegal launch, Niklas Kronwall, D, Detroit: Will the NHL have the stones to suspend Kronwall for Game 7 in Tampa? It should. Watch this blatantly illegal hit on Tampa's Nikita Kucherov. Kronwall leaves his feet, launches into the hit, leads with his forearm to the head and appears to make first contact with Kucherov 's chin. Isn't this the textbook example of what the league is trying to remove from the game?

There's this from a former referee: 

Best illegal check: Alex Ovechkin, LW, Washington. Speaking of horrid no-calls, check out this Ovechkin hit from behind on Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey. Ovechkin leads with his stick (cross-check?) into Hickey's numbers (infraction No. 2) which sends Hickey and his unsuspecting face into the glass. Did we mention it occurred under the watchful eye of an official?

Best space-clearing play: Joel Ward, F, Washington. After winning a puck battle in the corner with Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy, Ward went to the net, shoved New York defenseman Johnny Boychuk to the ice from behind, then jammed in a rebound of Brooks Orpik's shot from the point. To top it off, he celebrated the goal with a bunny hop.

Best thing to look forward to Wednesday: Detroit Red Wings at Tampa Bay Lightning, Game 7, 7:30 p.m., EST. Detroit and Tampa had the two worst road records while Tampa had the NHL's best home record. It has meant nothing in this series. Both teams are 2-1 on the road (and obviously 1-2 at home). Neither team has won two in a row with Detroit winning the odd-numbered games and Tampa always responding in the even-numbered games. There are no even-numbered games left.  Will the pattern hold?

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Nikita Kucherov

Jaroslav Halak

Petr Mrazek

Evgeny Kuznetsov

Thomas Hickey

Detroit Red Wings

Tampa Bay Lightning

National Hockey League