Washington Capitals: Top 5 rivalry games over the last 5 years

#5 Kuzy coming up clutch in Game 7

In the spring of 2015 the Capitals were locked into an intense first round series with the New York Islanders. It was a series that would stretch seven games and fans were nervous about Game 7s past heading into that night.

The first period would be scoreless but not without some close plays from Joel Ward and Mike Green. Jason Chimera also had a good look in front of the net but was stopped. Making things more nerve wracking was the Islanders turned to playoff villain Jaroslav Halak, who was known infamously around these streets after what he did with Montreal.

The Caps would finally break through with about 90 seconds to go in the second period with Ward deflecting in a shot from Brooks Orpik. The Islanders would make things interesting in the third by tying things up as Braden Holtby was unable to corral the puck between his legs. Frans Nielsen had the goal.

With under 14 minutes left and a tie game, Jay Beagle had an opportunity with the puck bouncing off the boards to him but alas he got “Halak’d”. Thankfully, the Caps would redeem themselves later on.

With just over seven minutes to go, Evgeny Kuznetsov had the game on his stick and he held onto his shot before firing the puck past Halak. Holtby held it down on the other end and the Caps hung on for a 3-2 win.