First shot of OT wins for Islanders over the Lightning
Anthony Beauvillier scored 1:08 into overtime and the New York Islanders at home rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 32 on Wednesday night to force a deciding Game 7 in their Stanley Cup semifinal series.
Jordan Eberle and Scott Mayfield scored for the Islanders, who rallied from two goals down in the second period. Semyon Varlamov finished with 22 saves.
Brayden Point scored for the ninth straight game and Anthony Cirelli had a goal and an assist for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 shots.
Beauvillier picked off a pass in the right circle, gathered it and beat Vasilevskiy on the first shot on goal of the extra period.
Game 7 is Friday night in Tampa, Fla.
Mayfield tied at 22 with 8:44 left when he got a pass from Mathew Barzal, skated into the right circle and beat Vasilevskiy with a shot that went in off the crossbar.
Vasilevskiy had a nice glove save on Barzal two minutes into the second to preserve Tampa Bay’s 10 lead.
Cirelli made it 20 with 7:24 left in the second on a breakaway as he brought the puck up the left side and beat Varlamov between the legs for his fourth of the postseason.
CanadiensKnights preview:
The Golden Knights can’t afford yet another dud, and they’re running out of time — and answers — in needing to jumpstart an anemic offense, down 32 in their Stanley Cup semifinal series against the Montreal Canadiens.
Vegas’ powerplay unit has gone 0 of 15 in the series while converting a postseasonworst 4 of 41 opportunities.
The offensive woes suddenly bring back memories of last year, when Vegas scored eight goals in five games in being eliminated by Dallas in the Western Conference final.
“It’s the same thing last year,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “We don’t have any excuses. We need solutions ASAP.”
Vegas was a heavy favorite in the series, but the Canadiens have proven to be an unflinching and focused team, which stands one win from its first berth in the Stanley Cup Final since winning it all in 1993.
Game 6 is Thursday night in Montreal.
Briefly: Defenseman Carl Gunnarsson announced his retirement after 12 NHL seasons. After hitting the post earlier in Game 2 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, he scored 3:51 into overtime to tie the series against Boston, and the Blues went on to win their first championship. Gunnarsson played 629 regular-season games for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Blues, recording 138 points . ... Daniel and Henrik Sedin are returning to the Vancouver Canucks to work in the front office. Three years after retiring, the Swedish twins joined the Canucks’ hockey operations department with the title of special adviser to general manager Jim Benning.