Fragen und Antworten » Islanders, from 1973-86

TAMPA Jason Zucker Jersey , Fla. (AP) Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals overcame a major hurdle by reaching the Eastern Conference final.Just like that, they’re in a full-on sprint toward the finish.The Capitals scored in the opening minute of the game and twice in the last 1:02 of the second period Sunday night to pull away to a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning and a 2-0 lead in the East final.”It’s huge but it’s not over yet,” Ovechkin said. ”We played hard and played smart. You can see all four lines doing their job.”Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller each had a goal and two assists. Ovechkin and Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist apiece for the Caps, who took the first two games of the best-of-seven matchup on the road. Since 1974-75, teams that take a 2-0 lead in the conference final or semifinal have a series record of 39-2 (95.1 percent).”We didn’t panic. Just stayed to the system and played the right way,” Ovechkin said. ”We stayed calm and waited for our opportunities.”Devante Smith-Pelly and Brett Connolly also scored, helping Washington improve to 7-1 on the road this postseason. It’s their first visit to the conference final during Ovechkin’s 13-season career.”You’re on the road and it’s us against them, and this group has really bonded,” coach Barry Trotz said. ”They’ve got a lot of resiliency, and they’re having fun.”Game 3 is Tuesday night in Washington.The Lightning had the best record in the Eastern Conference this season and breezed through the first rounds of the playoffs against New Jersey and Boston.Little has gone right against the Capitals.”For a team that’s been used to being able to make some plays, we sure haven’t made them in these two games. It’s very uncharacteristic of us. That’s the difference. They’ve made plays Joel Eriksson Ek Jersey , we haven’t. And it’s cost us,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said.”We’ve just played tentative and a little bit slow. We didn’t get 113 points by playing that way. We didn’t win the first two rounds by playing that way,” Cooper added. ”For some reason for two games, that’s the way we’ve played.”Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos had early power-play goals for Tampa Bay, which rebounded after falling behind on Wilson’s goal 28 seconds into the game.Smith-Pelly’s one-timer finished an odd-man rush and made it 2-2 at 2:30 of the second period. The Caps took control when Eller scored with 1:02 remaining and Kuznetsov – with assists from Ovechkin and Eller – delivered on a power play less than a minute later.Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was called for tripping Andre Burakovsky with 10 seconds left in the period. Kuznetsov scored seven seconds later to make it 4-2, the second time in the series the Caps stunned the Lightning with a power-play goal in the closing seconds of a period.Ovechkin and Connolly finished the rout with third-period goals. Braden Holtby stopped 33 of 35 shots to improve to 10-3 this postseason.”We’ve defended this entire playoffs up until these last couple of games, and that’s why we’ve had success,” Stamkos said. ”We haven’t defended with the same urgency. We’re leaving our goalie out to dry.”Ovechkin also had a goal and an assist in Washington’s 4-2 victory in Game 1.Vasilevskiy was pulled from the opener after facing 25 shots in two periods, but the Lightning didn’t pin the loss on him. Instead, they vowed to play harder in front of the young goaltender, who finished with 31 saves in Game 2.Tampa Bay benefited early from a couple of questionable penalties – Wilson for goaltender interference and T.J. Oshie for high-sticking Victor Hedman Authentic Marcus Johansson Jersey , when the Tampa Bay defenseman actually was struck by the puck – to score twice in just over three minutes on the power play for a 2-1 lead.Stamkos and Hedman assisted on Point’s goal at 7:08 of the first. Stamkos’ fourth goal in five games gave Tampa Bay its first lead of the series.The Lightning will have to turn the series around on the road to return to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2015.”We’ll prepare for the toughest game that we’ve played all season,” Stamkos said. ”It’s gut-check time. Let’s see who we really are.”NOTES: Washington’s John Carlson had two assists, giving him 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) this postseason. That’s a club record by a defenseman in one playoff year. He had been tied for the most with Kevin Hatcher (5-7-12, 1988), Scott Stevens (1-11-12, 1988) and himself (5-7-12, 2016). … Before Sunday night, the Lightning had won Game 2 of a series five consecutive times after losing Game 1. They’re 4-2 in six previous series in which they lost Game 1, with those series losses coming in the first round in 2014 against Montreal and the 2015 Stanley Cup Final against Chicago. … Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom, who took a shot from Justin Schultz off his right hand in Game 5 of Washington’s second-round series against the Penguins Michael Hutchinson Jersey Womens , missed his third straight game. He took part in the morning skate on a limited basis and remains day-to-day. … Hedman has a franchise-record, seven-game point streak (eight assists). Martin St. Louis had a six-game streak in 2004.— BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Robin Lehner made an emotional return to Buffalo and led the Islanders to a milestone victory for New York coach Barry Trotz.Lehner made 39 saves against his former team as the Islanders beat the Sabres 3-1 on Monday night.New York’s fourth straight victory moved Trotz into fourth place on the NHL’s all-time win list with 783, moving him ahead of Islanders franchise legend Al Arbour.“You get into coaching, you talk about certain names that you have respect for,” Trotz said before Monday’s game. “When you hear someone say, ‘Hey, you and Al Arbour,’ I feel a little out of place. It’s a total honor to be even mentioned.”Trotz said the Islanders players understood the significance of his passing Arbour, but the team was more proud of getting a win for Lehner in his first game back in Buffalo since March 29.Lehner left that game against Detroit because of a panic attack and was subsequently treated for alcohol addiction and also diagnosed with bipolar disorder, ADHD and PTSD. He signed with the Islanders in July after three seasons with the Sabres.“This one felt good http://www.officialdevils.com/authentic-adidas-miles-wood-jersey ,” Lehner said. “It was probably the hardest game I’ve played in my career. I don’t know why. It’s just a really weird feeling for me. I struggled mentality a little bit in the beginning of the game. It just felt weird. Somehow just got in the flow.”Lehner continued his hot play, winning his fourth start in a row and allowing one goal or fewer in regulation for the seventh time in eight games.“He was unbelievable,” defenseman Nick Leddy said. “He made some extremely timely saves and he was our best player.”Leddy, Brock Nelson and Ryan Pulock scored for the Islanders, who won for the seventh time in eight games.Kyle Okposo scored and Carter Hutton stopped 30 shots for Buffalo, which has lost three in a row and five of six.The Sabres played most of the game without captain Jack Eichel, who went to the dressing room late in the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return.Eichel, a game-time decision by coach Phil Housley, started and played four shifts totaling 2:42. He sat out practice on Sunday.“I don’t think he’s going to be out long,” Housley said.Leddy gave the Islanders the lead 2:30 into the second period. Leo Komarov won a face-off in the offensive zone and Mathew Barzal sent the puck back to Leddy, who unleashed a slap shot from the left point that sailed through traffic and over Hutton’s shoulder into the far corner of the net.Nelson made it 2-0 in the opening minutes of the third period Nico Hischier Jersey , scoring on a shot from the slot that bounced out of Hutton’s glove and into the net.The Sabres made a push in the third period, ending Lehner’s shutout bid and nearly coming back from the two-goal deficit.Okposo snapped a 21-game goal drought on a power play with 9:46 remaining. While Barzal served a slashing penalty, Okposo beat Lehner with a wrist shot from the right circle.Buffalo was unable to take advantage of an opportunity to tie the game on a power play that began with 6:53 left in the period.Lehner recorded an assist on Pulock’s empty-net goal with 31.4 seconds remaining.Trotz’s milestone victory comes in his first season with the Islanders. After coaching the Washington Capitals to the Stanley Cup last season, Trotz resigned following a contract dispute. He led the Capitals to 205 regular-season victories in four years and had 557 wins in 15 seasons with the Nashville Predators.Arbour tallied 740 of his 782 coaching victories during three stints with the Islanders, from 1973-86, 1988-94 and for one game during the 2007-08 season. New York won four consecutive Stanley Cups (1980-83) under Arbour. He began his coaching career with the St. Louis Blues.NOTES: Lehner played in Buffalo for the first time since signing with the Islanders in free agency following three seasons as the Sabres’ top goaltender. He received a mix of cheers and boos when acknowledged on the video scoreboard early in the first period. . Barzal extended his points streak to five games. He has six goals and three assists in that stretch. . Sabres LW C.J. Smith made his season debut after being called up from the minors earlier Monday.UP NEXTIslanders: Will look to match their season-long win streak at home against Chicago on Thursday.Sabres: Host Panthers on Thursday.