John Tavares, Johnny Boychuk Prove How Stars' Play Will Determine Caps Series

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Hockey is a team game, one that requires positive contributions from everyone stepping on the ice during a given day. You’re only as strong as your weakest link and all those cliches.

They are cliches, but they are true.

However, if those players who play the big minutes and are relied upon in crucial situations don’t deliver, no one cares if your fourth line authored a few nice shifts and created some of that sweet, sweet momentum.

On Sunday afternoon, in front of a raucous Nassau Coliseum crowd that was seemingly more engaged than the opposition in what was happening on the ice, John Tavares and Johnny Boychuk made all the difference for the New York Islanders.

Fifteen seconds into overtime, after a largely unimpressive two-plus games, Tavares showed why he’s a franchise cornerstone. He stashed a rebound through the smallest of openings from the sharpest of angles to give the Islanders a 2-1 victory against the Washington Capitals in Game 3 of this first-round series, which the Islanders also lead 2-1.

The timing was just as important as the goal. The Islanders were a timid, passive team while playing with a third-period lead that evaporated in almost inevitable fashion with 6:06 remaining, but that all changed with Tavares' effort. 

Tavares doesn’t have to do everything on a team of this quality, but the captain did everything he could to cradle his mostly inexperienced team through the adversity and pressure. 

“Your best players got to be your best players if you’re going to have a chance to win a Stanley Cup,” Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. “They played him hard there in the two games in Washington. He still had some chances, but today, 91 was 91.

"He did a lot of good things for us, not only on the ice but on the bench to calm things down when they made the push. He’s been there all year for us, so it’s no different tonight." 

Game	Goals	Assists	Shots	Shot attempts	TOI
Game 1	0	1	0	3	17:43
Game 2	0	1	2	5	17:24
Game 3	1	0	4	7	20:42

“I know my role and responsibility is to be counted on to create opportunities, put the puck in the net,” Tavares said. “When you get them, you want to put it in. You want the puck on your stick. You want to make a difference. You don’t want to try to do it all yourself or do too much, but when you get those chances, you want to capitalize.” 

Tavares had zero shots in a Game 1 victory and just two in Game 2, when the Islanders played on their heels and relinquished a pair of two-goal leads before losing the contest. It wasn’t the same recipe in Game 3, as the Islanders had the game’s first 10 shots and took a 1-0 lead on Kyle Okposo’s goal midway through the second period in a mostly one-sided contest.

But after 40 minutes of aggression, the Islanders again seemed content to play it safe, sit back and go into a shell. As is usually the case when teams take a lead into a bunker, the Caps busted it when Nicklas Backstrom’s long shot found the back of the net through a maze of bodies to even the score at 1-1.

The Islanders made a push after that, but there’s no telling how they would’ve handled anything beyond the first shift of overtime.

Tavares made sure that wouldn’t be an issue.

“He’s our leader. He’s our catalyst,” fourth-liner Matt Martin said. “I guess if you’re going to put some odds on it, he’d be first on the list.”

Maybe not everyone’s list.

“Well, I would like for it to be myself,” Boychuk said. “As long as it’s somebody in this dressing room, it doesn’t really matter.” 

Boychuk wasn’t engulfed by teammates following the game-winning overtime goal. Instead, he spent most of the afternoon engulfing the superstar on the other team, Alex Ovechkin.

This isn’t to say that Boychuk was a one-man roadblock for Ovechkin or that Ovechkin wasn’t a factor—he had 14 shot attempts in Game 3, and while he didn’t receive a point on Backstrom’s goal, he was instrumental in its creation. 

But Ovechkin had nine of those attempts blocked and on four of those occasions, Boychuk was the one absorbing the rubber. Three of those blocks occurred shorthanded during a 50-second span late in the second period, and it culminated in a sprawling, desperate Boychuk swiping the puck off Ovechkin’s stick and out of the zone to conclude the period.

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

In a series that may boil down to which team’s superstars do the most heavy lifting, getting in front of Ovechkin's bombs is just as important for the Islanders to advance as Tavares putting pucks in the net.

Boychuk has done that even with defensive stalwart Travis Hamonic out of the lineup with an injury, which makes it all that more necessary. 

“Without [Hamonic] in the lineup, it’s real important,” Capuano said. “Johnny did a great job. He’s a big body. He played a lot hard minutes there for us today. He took some big hits. He dished out some big hits. Not only did he do a good job at five-on-five, but especially on the penalty kill as well. I thought overall, it was a really good game by 55, no question.”

Boychuk won a Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011 and reached the Finals in 2013, making him, along with Nick Leddy, one of the few voices and presences in the locker room with an extensive background in how to win in the postseason. 

“He knows what it takes to play in the playoffs,” Okposo said. “He’s blocking shots and just playing extremely hard for us.” 

Your best players need to be your best players if you want to win a Stanley Cup. It’s another cliche—another true one—that Capuano and other coaches have said countless times.

For at least one day, the Islanders' best players were a little better than the Capitals’ best players.

All statistics via NHL.com. Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @DaveLozo.