Capitals eliminate Islanders, Lightning force a Game 7

Monday night could have been the end of the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but only one of the final two series ended. The Washington Capitals eliminated the New York Islanders in a series-deciding Game 7 thanks to a goal from rookie Evgeny Kuznetsov with 7:18 left in the game. The Capitals held off the Islanders the rest of the way to set up a showdown with the New York Rangers, the winners of The Presidents’ Trophy as the best team in the regular season.

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The Capitals and Rangers are no strangers to each other in postseason play. New York eliminated Washington from the playoffs in 2012 and 2013, both times in seven games. Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals will try and pull off the upset and advance past the second round for the first time since Ovechkin arrived in Washington.

It’ll certainly be a tough task against the current favorite to win the Stanley Cup. The Rangers have 13/4 odds to win the Stanley Cup, while the Capitals are down at 9/1, per Bovada. Still, this is the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and upsets happen all the time.

In the other game on Monday night, the Detroit Red Wings had a chance on their home ice to finish off the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the Lightning went into Detroit and came away with a dominating 5-2 victory to force a Game 7. Tampa Bay struck twice in the first period and never looked back, and Tyler Johnson scored two goals to lead the way.

Game 7 will take place in Tampa on Wednesday night. Having home ice advantage in Game 7 will be nice, but Detroit has already won on the road twice in this series.

The series has been extremely competitive, with alternating winners in each game after the Red Wings stole Game 1 on the road. Both teams have 15 goals in the series, so it’s only fitting that this goes right down to the wire. The Lightning are the favorite in Game 7 at -1½ on the Canadian Line and -190 on the Moneyline, per Bovada.