Washington Capitals center Marcus Johansson (90), from Sweden, right wing T.J. Oshie (77) and left wing Alex Ovechkin (8), from Russia, celebrate with defenseman John Carlson, second from left, after his goal against the Philadelphia Flyers during the second period of Game 1 of a first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Thursday, April 14, 2016, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Washington Capitals center Marcus Johansson (90), from Sweden, right wing T.J. Oshie (77) and left wing Alex Ovechkin (8), from Russia, celebrate with defenseman John Carlson, second from left, after his goal against the Philadelphia Flyers during the second period of Game 1 of a first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Thursday, April 14, 2016, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Credit: Alex Brandon

Washington — Special teams made a special impact for the Washington Capitals in their first playoff game.

With a perfect penalty-killing effort and a power-play goal by John Carlson, the Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-0 Thursday night in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Washington’s penalty kill went for 4 for 4 and frustrated the Flyers, who lost second-line center Sean Couturier to an upper-body injury in the second period.

Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby had seven of his 19 saves on Philadelphia power plays to pick up his third career shutout in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Flyers counterpart Steve Mason stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced, giving up only Carlson’s goal on a shot that deflected in off teammate Chris VandeVelde.

Islanders 5, Panthers 4

Sunrise, Fla. — John Tavares had a goal and two assists, including one that set up Kyle Okposo’s go-ahead goal early in the third period, and New York beat Florida in Game 1 of the teams’ Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

Thomas Greiss survived a shaky beginning and made 42 saves for the Islanders in his first playoff start, and Brock Nelson, Frans Nielsen and Ryan Strome added goals for New York.

Home-ice advantage in the series now belongs to the Islanders, and they can take a 2-0 lead back to Barclays Center if they prevail when the series resumes in a quick turnaround tonight.

Reilly Smith had two goals, Jussi Jokinen had a goal and two assists and Teddy Purcell also scored for the Panthers. Roberto Luongo stopped 21 of 26 shots.