Washington rookie Evgeny Kuznetsov scored twice to lead the Capitals to a 5-1 win against the New York Islanders on Thursday to take a 3-2 lead in their NHL first-round playoff series.
Nashville and Vancouver both staved off elimination with must-win victories over Chicago and Calgary respectively to cut the deficit in those series to 3-2, while Tampa Bay won in overtime at Detroit to square that series at 2-2.
Washington's Karl Alzner added a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who controlled the action most of the evening after falling behind 1-0.
Dominating despite zero points from stars Alex Ovechkin or Nicklas Backstrom, Washington also had goals from Brooks Laich and Jason Chimera in the third period, which they began ahead only 2-1.
The Capitals can end the Eastern Conference series by winning Game 6 on Saturday in New York.
Nashville rookie Filip Forsberg had his first career hat-trick to lead the Predators to a must-win 5-2 victory over Chicago.
A triple-overtime loss in Chicago on Wednesday pushed the Predators to the brink of elimination, and the teams appeared headed for the third overtime game of their series when the second period ended at 1-1.
James Neal then scored the go-ahead goal in the opening minute of the third to spark a flurry of three goals in less than three minutes.
Forsberg finished his hat-trick with an empty netter in the final minute. Colin Wilson also had a goal and Neal had an assist.
Chicago's Brad Richards had a goal and an assist, and Kris Versteeg also scored for the Blackhawks, who host Game 6 on Saturday.
Vancouver also came through in a must-win situation, edging Calgary 2-1.
Daniel Sedin scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and Nick Bonino had the other goal for Vancouver, while goaltender Ryan Miller had 19 saves in his first start in the series after replacing Eddie Lack in Game 4.
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