Evgeny Kuznetsov had the breakout performance with two goals and an assist highlighting the Caps’ 5-1 win over the Isles in Game 5.
AP Photo by Alex Brandon/Getty Images

The Islanders season is on the line. They were put on the brink by the Capitals in a 5-1 loss in Game 5 at Verizon Center. It wasn’t star tandem Alex Ovechkin or Nicklas Backstrom that did them in. Instead, rookie Evgeny Kuznetsov was the breakout star scoring his first two career playoff goals and adding a assist for a three-point night.

”Everybody wants to score the goal,” Kuznetsov said. ”But if you do the right things, stay in the plan, all the goals, passes and Cups come. One guy never (wins) the Cup. Only (teams) win the Cup.”

It was the 22-year old Russian forward who delivered a big performance to give the Caps a 3-2 series lead. For the Islanders, that could mean playing for the final time at Nassau Coliseum. Until Backstrom won Game 4 in overtime to square the series, that possibility didn’t exist.

”We know what it means to our fans. … It just can’t be the last game for them,” Thomas Hickey said. ”So we’re going to come with our heads on and be ready to play, and make sure that it’s not the last game there. We’ve got to find a way.”

They’ll have to play much better to force a deciding Game 7. Oddly enough, it started well with Josh Bailey getting the game’s first goal when he took a John Tavares feed and beat Braden Holtby at 5:48. Nick Leddy added a secondary helper.

Bailey’s goal followed rookie Anders Lee fighting Tom Wilson as retribution for his hit that injured Lubomir Visnovsky. Lee did alright getting a couple of early shots in. But Wilson earned the decision with some hey makers.

A few minutes later, Kuznetsov showed some skill batting a Marcus Johansson rebound out of mid-air for his first to even the score. The game remained tied nearly halfway through the second. It was the play of Jaroslav Halak that kept the Isles tied. Facing a Caps’ onslaught, he made some big stops robbing John Carlson and denying Kuznetsov.

The turning point came on the next shift. Halak made another strong save on Troy Brouwer but before he could fully cover the puck, Brouwer freed it loose and went around the net and centered for Karl Alzner, who one-timed the puck into an open side for the go-ahead tally at 10:31.

Despite being outplayed severely and outshot 18-8, the Isles still trailed by one after two. Even with Halak tripping up Alex Ovechkin to hand the Caps a full two-minute power play to start the third, the Islanders killed it off. However, they were unable to grab momentum. Instead, a Halak turnover resulted in Brooks Laich rebounding home a Jay Beagle shot from Jason Chimera at 2:42 making it 3-1.

”Huge,” Washington coach Barry Trotz said. ”That got the ball rolling, in terms of momentum and stuff.”

It only got worse. Following a clean takeout by Joel Ward on Casey Cizikas, Matt Niskanen sent Kuznetsov in on a breakaway and he deked Halak tucking a backhand in for his second of the game. Chimera would add further insult taking a Johansson feed and beating Halak through the wickets to chase him.

”For whatever reason tonight, the brain wasn’t working. We just turned pucks over and gave it right to them, and they came back the other way,” explained Isles’ coach Jack Capuano said after replacing Halak with Michal Neuvirth. ”I wanted to let him know that it has nothing to do with him.”

At that point, the Isles lost their cool. Matt Martin was given a misconduct for complaining to the officials. Following that, Cal Clutterbuck slashed Laich and was assessed a misconduct ending his night.

At the end of the day, it didn’t matter. The Isles will have to play desperate hockey to avoid elimination. They don’t want it to end in their historic barn. Feed off the energy of what will be a wild atmosphere and they can force a seventh game. Anything can happen if they get there. We’ll see what they’re made of.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Jason Chimera, WSH (goal, assist, 4 SOG, 3 hits, +3 in 26 shifts-15:52)

2nd Star-Karl Alzner, WSH (game-winner, assist, +3 in 26 shifts-16:50)

1st Star-Evgeny Kuznetsov, WSH (2 goals, assist, 7 SOG, +3 in 23 shifts-16:28)

Notes: Hits were 49-49. Johnny Boychuk led all skaters with 10. Brooks Orpik had six. The Isles got destroyed on faceoffs with the Caps going 31-for-49 led by Backstrom (11-and-3). Tavares was ineffective losing 11-of-15. … Halak finished with 30 saves and backup Neuvirth turned aside all six in relief. Holtby made 22. … The Isles continued to struggle on the power play going 0-for-2. They’re 0-for-12 in the series. The Caps went 0-for-3. They’re 1-for-10 overall.

Reinhart Struggles, Grabovski Returns: Making his playoff debut, former number one pick Griffin Reinhart had a tough night finishing minus-two in 20 shifts (12:42). He dressed in place of Visnovsky. … Mikhail Grabovski returned to the lineup. Dressing in place of Brock Nelson, he took 21 shifts (15:38) with three shots, two hits and went 5-and-6 on draws.

Key Stats

SOG Isles 23 Caps 41

Shot Attempts Isles 60  Caps 67

Blocked Shots Isles 16 (Leddy 3) Caps 18 (Carlson 5)