Islanders tie series
During his availability with media on Saturday morning, Barry Trotz made abundantly clear the task for his New York Islanders.
“When you get this far, playing teams that don’t give up much, you’ve got to force yourself inside the door,” the Isles coach said in a Zoom call hours before Game 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. “You’ve got to kick the door open every time there’s an opening.”
It didn’t come without some hand-wringing in the third period on Saturday night at Nassau Coliseum, but the Islanders not only kicked that playoff door open, they looked around, got comfortable and put themselves on level ground with the defending Stanley Cup champions.
The best-of-seven semifinal is tied 2-2 after the Isles hung on to beat the Lightning 3-2. Game 5 is on Monday in Tampa.
“Our game was good,” Trotz said. “Our 60-minute game was pretty decent, other than the seven or eight minutes where they had surged on us (in third period).
“This is what we expected — 2-2 going back (to Tampa), it’s a best of three now.”
Tampa made a determined charge to erase a three-goal deficit in the final 20 minutes.
Brayden Point extended his goal streak to seven games when he snapped a quick shot past Semyon Varlamov at 3:45.
In National Hockey League history, only Reggie Leach, who scored in 10 consecutive games with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1976, has a longer goal streak in one playoff year.
Less than three minutes after the Point goal, Tyler Johnson swept past a stickcheck attempt by Josh Bailey and fired the puck into the top corner over Varlamov’s glove.
Trotz called a timeout after the Johnson goal and his club responded favourably, though Varlamov had to be sharp to stop Nikita Kucherov.
Yet Tampa had one last gasp, and it appeared the game would be tied and headed to overtime.
With the final seconds ticking off the clock, Lightning defenceman Ryan Mcdonagh put a spin-o-rama move on Brock Nelson, going to his backhand. That drew Varlamov out to challenge, giving Mcdonagh an open net.
Isles defenceman Ryan Pulock had the presence of mind to slide through the crease, stopping Mcdonagh’s shot and preserving the win.
“I just tried to make myself big and take (the net) away and I was able to get it,” Pulock said. “You hear the sound of the clock go and all the boys jump on you, it’s a good feeling.
“The situation that we’re in, how deep we are in the playoffs, how important these games are, there is no situation like this that I have had before. It feels good to score goals, but when you can save a game like that and get the win, it’s a good feeling.”
Said Trotz: “That’s the great thing about our game. We can bring you out of your seats right until the last minute. What a save by Puly.”