WASHINGTON - The Islanders' season ended last night, a Game 7 that was tense and tight but simply not their best effort.
It was a brain cramp by all five skaters that allowed Washington's Evgeny Kuznetsov to walk through the slot and beat Jaroslav Halak for the winner with 7:18 to go, a 2-1 heartbreaker for the Isles in which Halak stood tall but his teammates fell flat at the wrong time, mustering only 11 shots on net.
The Capitals advanced to play the Rangers in the conference semifinals.