Lightning tees off on Islanders
EDMONTON, Alberta — Brayden Point scored twice and added three assists, and the well- rested Tampa Bay Lightning romped to a 8- 2 win over the travel- and gameweary New York Islanders to open the Eastern Conference final Monday night.
The Lightning showed no signs of rust following a near weeklong break after eliminating the Boston Bruins in their second- round series with a 3- 2 double- overtime win Aug. 31.
They instead resembled a refreshed team by scoring three times on nine shots to build a 3- 1 lead by the 10: 46 mark of the first period, and matched a franchise record for most goals scored in a playoff game.
Nikita Kucherov had four assists and scored his 34th career playoff goal to move one ahead of Martin St. Louis for first on the franchise list. Yanni Gourde scored twice, Victor Hedman had a goal and two assists and Ryan McDonagh and Ondrej Palat also scored for the second- seeded Lightning.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves, and the Lightning have won five in a row, matching their longest playoff run since 2015. Game 2 is Wednesday.
The Islanders, by comparison, came out flat, looking like a team that spent Sunday flying to Edmonton, Alberta, from Toronto, a day
after a 4- 0 win against Philadelphia in Game 7 of their second- round series.
Thomas Greiss, who stopped 16 shots in earning his first postseason shutout Saturday, was yanked after giving up three goals on nine shots.
He was replaced by Semyon Varlamov, who gave up five on 25 shots.
Jordan Eberle briefly tied the score, 1- 1, with a power- play goal for New York, the only remaining team that played a preliminary round elimination series. Nick Leddy’s third- period goal briefly cut the Lightning lead to 6- 2.
The eight goals allowed matched a franchise low, following an 8- 3 loss to the New York Rangers in the Islanders’ second playoff game on April 10, 1975.
The opening goal reflected the disparity in rest.
Point opened the scoring 74 seconds in by bursting up the left wing, getting a step around Ryan Pulock, driving to the net and wrapping the puck around Greiss.
After Eberle scored, the Lightning struck for two goals on consecutive shots, coming 2: 34 apart.
Hedman, from the blue line and set up by Point’s no- look pass, blasted a shot inside the left post with Greiss screened by Tampa Bay’s Alex Killorn for a power- play goal.
Then McDonagh beat Greiss on the short side from the left circle.
Point extended his point streak to seven games, in which he has combined for four goals and 12 assists. He also has a point in 13 of Tampa Bay’s 14 playoff games this year.