Islanders surge past Capitals in Game 1 of Eastern First Round

The New York Islanders scored four straight goals and rallied for a 4-2 win against the Washington Capitals in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Wednesday.

Josh Bailey broke a tie with a shorthanded goal in the third period for New York, which is the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference and defeated the Florida Panthers in four games in the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers. Jordan Eberle, Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier scored, and Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves.

Teams that win Game 1 are 478-219 (68.6 percent) winning a best-of-7 NHL playoff series. Game 2 will be played in Toronto, the Eastern hub city, on Friday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, FX-CA, TVAS, NBCSWA, MSG, MSG+).

WATCH:[All Islanders vs. Capitals highlights]

"I thought we just stuck to it," Bailey said. "They've got a really good team. They've got a good power play, they found a way to score a couple. We just wanted to keep working, I think that's playoff hockey. You can't get down in those moments, you've just got to keep pressing. Tonight, we found a way."

T.J. Oshie scored twice, and John Carlson had two assists for Washington, which is the No. 3 seed in the East and went 1-1-1 in the round-robin portion of the Qualifiers. Braden Holtby made 23 saves.

The Capitals went 2-for-7 on the power play.

"I think we have an experienced enough group to know that one game doesn't make a series," Holtby said. "It's how you respond to it, it's how you do the little things, learn from the game that you just played and find ways to play them better. I think to push forward from a game like today is one that I want to make sure that I have my best game come next game and as a group, I think individually, if we all expect more of ourselves, then that's how we've won in the past and that's how we're going to do it again. First game in the series doesn't say much about how it's going to go. It's how you respond from here on out."

Bailey gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead at 6:52 of the third with Leo Komarov in the penalty box (high-sticking) when he one-timed Brock Nelson's feed from the right circle. Bailey fed Beauvillier for a one-timer at 11:55 for the 4-2 final.

Lee tied it 2-2 at 51 seconds of the third on a rebound of Ryan Pulock's slap shot.

"We knew how the game was going, we knew we felt good and we were generating chances and they just hadn't gone in at that point," Lee said. "Going into the third, it was that same mentality -- keep putting the foot on the gas and keep getting pucks to the net. All the things you talk about all the time, but I think just as a group, we all settled in and played a really smart period."

Oshie gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 5:27 of the second period on a rebound off the end boards.

He made it 2-0 when he poked a loose puck in front past Varlamov at 11:18 of the second.

Eberle started the Islanders rally at 18:57 of the second with a wrist shot from between the circles to make it 2-1.

New York outshot Washington 14-10 in the third.

"First, the first goal obviously can't go in," Holtby said. "I haven't seen a replay of it yet, can't really tell you too much. I just know it's a bad goal in a bad part of the game. That's on me. That changes the momentum of the game right there. That's just something that you move on with. You realize the importance of the little things and you strive to do them better next time."

Washington center Nicklas Backstrom was hit by Lee at 2:30 of the first and left the game after the period. As part of the NHL Return to Play Plan, a team is not permitted to disclose player injury or illness information.

"We'll update you more tomorrow," Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. "He's continuing to get looked at. Obviously, he couldn't finish the game. It was a late hit on an unexpected player that was in a spot [where] he was extremely vulnerable. So those are some things we saw there. It's as simple as that. Like I said, late hit, the player wasn't expecting it and it's predatory."

Lee received an interference penalty for the hit.

"You try to throw the brakes on a little bit there, but I caught him," Lee said. "The end result after that [was a] penalty, and a couple fights. It was settled and then the game continued on."

Carlson played for the first time since July 29, when the defenseman was injured in an exhibition game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

"There's always questions on what's best for the team, what's best for the player, and I think that's what we did to give myself the best chance to be at the top of my game come today," Carlson said.

Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk, who was injured in Game 1 against the Panthers, participated in warmups but did not play. Defenseman Andy Greene played for the fourth straight game and was plus-1 with two shots playing 15:47.

"I thought Andy and Nick Leddy (plus-2) were really strong today," New York coach Barry Trotz said.