ZAP! LIGHTNING ISLANDERS
Lightning strikes on Island as Tampa grabs 2-1 series lead
Tampa Bay probably wasn’t expecting the photographers to get in on the Islanders’ home-ice advantage Thursday night, but this is Nassau Coliseum in its final NHL season. Anything goes.
The Lightning was leading and buzzing in the offensive zone late in the first period when the referee stopped play and pointed to the corner boards. A cameraman had poked his lens too far through his allotted slot and interfered with the puck.
Tampa agitator Patrick Maroon skated on for the ensuing faceoff and gestured toward the corner in frustration. Maroon was greeted by about 30 middle fingers from the fans above.
Unfortunately, the Islanders on the ice didn’t give the Lightning as hard of a time in a 2-1 Game 3 loss that didn’t feel that close.
The Isles didn’t dial up consistent playoff intensity until midway through the second period, led by forwards Kyle Palmieri and J-G Pageau.
And though Cal Clutterbuck jammed home a Matt Martin rebound to tie the game, 1-1, at 17:01 of the second, the Lightning’s Brayden Point answered at 19:40 through a crowd of bodies just as a Tampa power play expired.
The Isles generated some quality third-period chances, but Leo Komarov couldn’t finish two on the doorstep, and the Islanders failed to register a single shot on Andrei Vasilevskiy for the final 1:47 that Semyon Varlamov was pulled for the extra attacker.
“They’re Stanley Cup champions. They’ve been in these situations,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said of the Lightning. “We tried. We just have to get more pucks, get inside. We had some chances and made some key saves. I thought we were pretty good defensively, as well. A lot of what they got, I thought we gave it to them.”
Trotz wasn’t referring to the game-winning goal from Point off a Victor Hedman rebound. The Lightning’s preceding power play had been earned on a questionable interference call against Adam Pelech drawn by Nikita Kucherov.
“I didn’t think there was much there at all,” Trotz said of the penalty.
But the Lightning had too easy of a time in the first period, including Yanni Gourde’s goal at 10:05 to open scoring, when Blake Coleman outworked Isles defenseman Noah Dobson to his own rebound behind the net and threw one off Nick Leddy’s skate in front to his teammate.
On the day that the Isles’ Lou Lamoriello was named a finalist for the Jim Gregory Award as the NHL’s top GM, his deadline acquisition Palmieri was terrific.
But Brock Nelson’s line with Josh Bailey and Anthony Beauvillier got absolutely nothing going, putting just two shots on goal all night.
“I thought we had four lines for parts of the game but not all the game,” Trotz said.
And though top center Mathew Barzal was buzzing on the puck most of the night, the Lightning was able to calmly back up and mostly keep the puck in front.
Barzal had one glorious chance late in the second period off a pass from Andy Greene and either missed the open net or grazed the post. Only when Palmieri, Martin and the bottom six forwards crashed the net with the puck and their bodies did they make life hard on Vasilevskiy. The Islanders actually outshot Tampa, 28-25, but it didn’t feel that way.
“We gotta keep putting the puck to the net,” Casey Cizikas said. “That’s when you get the chances and the second opportunities.”
In addition to the photographer’s first-period defense, for example, the Isles got help on their goal from the same lucky corner boards. A fortunate bounce on a Greene dump-in allowed Cizikas to retrieve the puck behind the net and feed Martin in front.
Then a Lightning defenseman tried to tuck the puck under Vasilevskiy’s pad for a whistle, and that’s when Clutterbuck “just shoveled until it went in.”
Martin insisted the quick Lightning answer for the final score didn’t get the Isles down.
“We’re a veteran team,” he said. “I think we try to brush off anything that comes our way... We’re always gonna play with confidence because we believe we’re a good team.”
But while there was some atmosphere here on Thursday, with Jets guard and new Islanders celebrity fan Dan Feeney chugging beers and slamming the cans on his head to get the 12,978 going, the magic and the consistent intensity were missing.
Two straight losses now have followed the Isles’ dominant Game 1 road victory. They have Saturday night at the Coliseum to take it up a notch and stop the bleeding before it’s too late.