National Hockey League
NY Islanders 4, Washington 2
When: 3:00 PM ET, Wednesday, August 12, 2020
Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario
Referees: Kevin Pollock, Kyle Rehman
Linesmen: Steve Barton, Devin Berg
Attendance: N/A

The New York Islanders scored four goals in a span of less than 13 minutes bridging the second and third periods Wednesday afternoon and came back to stun the Washington Capitals 4-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at Toronto.

Jordan Eberle and Anders Lee scored the first two goals for the Islanders before Josh Bailey and Anthony Beauvillier produced the go-ahead and insurance goals. Goalie Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves.

T.J. Oshie scored a pair of power play goals in the second period for the Capitals. Goalie Braden Holtby recorded 23 saves.

The Islanders will carry their series lead into Game 2, which is scheduled for Friday night.

Bailey scored the tie-breaking short-handed goal at 6:52 of the third. The goal was set up when Brock Nelson beat Alex Ovechkin to a clearing pass by Holtby to the side of the goal. Nelson fed Bailey out front, who beat Holtby from point-blank range.

Bailey also factored into the Islanders' next goal just under five minutes later, when he followed his own shot, corralled the rebound and passed to Beauvillier, who fired past the outstretched stick of a sprawling Holtby with 8:05 remaining.

That capped a comeback that began with 1:03 left in the second, when Eberle's shot glanced off Holtby's glove and into the net. Lee tied the game just 51 seconds into the third, when Ryan Pulock fired a pass from the blue line to the 6-foot-3 Islanders' captain, who was in front of the net and maneuvered the puck around Holtby.

The longtime rivals combined for more penalties (10) than shots (nine) in a scoreless first period before Oshie scored twice on the power play in a span of fewer than six minutes in the second.

His first goal came off a fortuitous bounce after a cross-ice pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov ticked off the skate of Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech, caromed off the back boards and right to Oshie, who was stationed to the right of the net and fired a shot over a sliding Scott Mayfield and into the net at 5:27.

Oshie doubled the lead with 8:42 left when he poked the puck past Varlamov to end a sequence that featured a handful of shots by the Capitals and seven players in the crease.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
NY Islanders   Washington
Josh Bailey 2 Points T.J. Oshie 2
Josh Bailey 1 Goals T.J. Oshie 2
Mathew Barzal 2 Assists John Carlson 2
N/A Power Play Goals T.J. Oshie 2
Josh Bailey 1 Short Handed Goals N/A
Semyon Varlamov .923 Save Percentage Braden Holtby .852
Semyon Varlamov 24 Saves Braden Holtby 23
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
NY Islanders 27 4 0-4 5-7 23 36
Washington 26 2 2-7 4-4 17 20
Upcoming Games
  • Washington will play their next game at home against NY Islanders. The Capitals have a W/L % of .571 after a win and .630 after a loss.
  • NY Islanders will play their next game on the road against Washington. The Islanders have a W/L % of .583 after a win and .438 after a loss.