Lightning, Islanders are on the ropes

Stars have yet to figure out the Golden Knights

The Tampa Bay Lightning have dropped the first three games of a series for the first time since being swept in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2019.

They have also lost six straight post-season home games, dating to a 6-2 victory over Colorado in

Game 3 of the 2022 Stanley Cup final.

Tampa Bay, which will host Game 4 against the Florida Panthers on Saturday night, has never rebounded from a 3-0 deficit to win a series. Overall, teams losing the first three have a series record of 4-202.

An empty-net goal was the difference in the opener against the Florida Panthers, Carter Verhaeghe’s overtime winner decided Game 2 and Florida scored late to seal a 5-3 win in Game 3.

“That’s a very, very good hockey team over there that plays a style that you need to play to win at this time of the year,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. “But we still believe that we can go out and win the next game.”

Hurricanes-Islanders

Pushed to the brink of elimination heading into Saturday’s Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes, the New York Islanders know they don’t have any margin of error left.

“We cannot think more than one game at a time,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “We have our backs against the wall.”

Roy confirmed veteran goalie Semyon Varlamov will be back in goal. Varlamov started the first two games and gave up six goals on 63 shots. The Islanders turned to Ilya Sorokin for Game 3, but he was pulled in the second period after allowing three goals on 14 shots.

Stars-Golden Knights

The defending champion Golden Knights are back in Las Vegas with a 2-0 lead over the Dallas Stars heading into Saturday night’s Game 3. Scoring chances have been hard to come by for the Stars.

“It’s tight through the neutral zone,” Stars forward Jason Robertson said. “We’ve got to pick our spots, whether to skate (the puck) or put it in a spot where we can get it back.”