WASHINGTON (AP) With the crowd's raucous chants of "We are louder!" ringing throughout a lopsided third period, a group of unheralded scorers put the Washington Capitals on the verge of a playoff series victory.
Dominating despite zero points from Alex Ovechkin or Nicklas Backstrom, the Capitals beat the New York Islanders 5-1 Thursday night to take a 3-2 lead in the first round, with rookie Evgeny Kuznetsov scoring twice and defenseman Karl Alzner adding a goal and an assist.
The Capitals can end the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series by winning Game 6 at New York on Saturday, in what could be the Islanders' final game at Nassau Coliseum before they move to Brooklyn next season.