Islanders, Predators Win In NHL Playoffs

The New York Islanders know they've yet to see the best of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vezina Trophy finalist Ben Bishop.

Shane Prince scored twice during a three-goal first period and John Tavares had a goal and an assist Wednesday night to help the Islanders beat one of the NHL's top goalies 5-3 in Game 1 of the second-round Stanley Cup playoff series.

The Lightning, the defending Eastern Conference champions, pulled Bishop midway through the second period after the Islanders scored four goals on their first 13 shots, one of them on a knuckler that fluttered through Bishop's legs.

"He'd probably like to have one back, but at the end of the day he's going to bounce back," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "He's a great goaltender. It's a long series.

"It's just one game. But whatever guy's in there, we've just got to continue to do what we need to do and get pucks and bodies to the net. Some of our shots had eyes. Again, you need some puck luck in this game if you're going to win, and we had that tonight."

Taking up where he left off in helping the Islanders advance beyond the first round for the first time in 23 years, Tavares assisted on Travis Hamonic's goal that erased an early deficit and later scored his sixth postseason goal on a blistering shot from the left circle to give New York a 4-1 lead midway through the second.

The Islanders needed overtime to get three of four victories against the Florida Panthers in the opening round. This one was never seriously in doubt after New York wiped out the 1-0 lead Tampa Bay took on Ondrej Palat's goal just over three minutes into the game.

"I think our group's got a great mindset," Tavares said. "A lot of confidence, obviously. We're all very familiar with one another and just want to keep rolling."

Tampa Bay pulled to 4-3 on third-period goals by Nikita Kucherov and Valtteri Filppula before Cal Clutterbuck's empty-netter sealed the victory in the final minute.

Predators 2, Ducks 1

Pekka Rinne and the Nashville Predators clung to a small lead for two full periods, scrambling and dodging and stopping everything the Anaheim Ducks could throw at them.

They hung on until the final horn, emerging triumphant from their first Game 7 and opening a new chapter in Smashville hockey.

The Ducks were left with the same strange story to tell for another long summer.

Colin Wilson and Paul Gaustad scored in the first period and the Predators hung on to win the franchise's first Game 7, advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 2-1 victory over the Ducks on Wednesday night.

Rinne made 36 saves for the wild-card Predators, who rallied from a 3-2 series deficit and ousted the Pacific Division champion Ducks with a workmanlike road victory. With a few big saves by Rinne and just enough fortunate bounces, Nashville earned just the third playoff series win in team history -- the first since 2012, and the second over Anaheim.

"It means a lot, and it shows a lot of character," Rinne said. "We can learn from this series. It's a really good team we played against, and there's a lot of good things we can take. Moving forward, I think we're a better team already."

Nashville will travel up the California coast to face the San Jose Sharks on Friday night.

Wednesday, April 27 Scoreboard

NY Islanders 5, Tampa Bay 3

Game 1 - Islanders lead 1-0

Nashville 2, Anaheim 1

Game 7 - Predators won 4-3

Thursday, April 28 Schedule (Time Central)

Pittsburgh at Washington

Game 1 - Series tied 0-0, 7 p.m.

Friday, April 29 Schedule (All Times Central)

St. Louis at Dallas

Game 1 - Series tied 0-0, 7 p.m.

Nashville at San Jose

Game 1 - Series tied 0-0, 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 30 Schedule (All Times Central)

NY Islanders at Tampa Bay

Game 2 - Islanders lead 1-0, 2 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Washington

Game 2 - Series tied 0-0, 7 p.m.

Sunday, May 1 Schedule (All Times Central)

St. Louis at Dallas

Game 2 - Series tied 0-0, 2 p.m.

Nashville at San Jose

Game 2 - Series tied 0-0, 7 p.m.