Islanders look to bounce back, even their series with Lightning
The New York Islanders don’t plan to spend too much time thinking about their blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning that’s put them on the verge of being ousted from the Stanley Cup semifinals.
The 8-0 loss on Monday night has the Islanders in a 3-2 series hole heading into Game 6 at home tonight, facing elimination for the first time this postseason.
“It’s a seven-game series, it’s not just one game,” forward Casey Cizikas said. “These things happen, it’s definitely not fun losing games like that, but you learn what it takes. They’re a Stanley Cup team, they know what they have to do to be successful, so going into tomorrow night our main focus is to play our game for 60 minutes and do that right from the getgo.”
Game 5 was a forgettable night from the start for the Islanders as the Lightning took the lead just 45 seconds into the game, led 3-0 after one period and 6-0 after two. Tampa Bay scored three power-play goals and outshot New York 42-21 and blocked 13 Islanders shots.
“You have to have a short memory,” forward Jordan Eberle said. “That goes with the highs and the lows. It’s not a total point thing. They win one game, doesn’t matter if it’s eight or overtime, So you put that one aside, you learn from it, the same thing is when you win, and you move forward.”
The Lightning aren’t taking anything for granted
and expect to see a strong bounce-back effort from the Islanders in Game 6.
“Sometimes you lose in overtime and those are more crushing and defeating than the lopsided ones,” Tampa Bay defenseman Luke Schenn said. “You’ve got to win four of them, so it doesn’t really matter. Whether you lose, you turn the page, or if you win you’ve got to turn the page. Every game has its own storyline going into it.”
The Islanders have managed to bounce back several times this postseason as they’ve trailed after three games in each series. They won three straight to beat Pittsburgh in the first round and then did it again against Boston in the second round. They evened this series after holding on a for a 3-2 win in Game 4 before falling behind again.
Now, they return to Nassau Coliseum, where they were 21-4-3 during the regular season and are 5-3 so far in the playoffs. With the Islanders set to open their new home at UBS Arena next to Belmont Park next season, it could be the last game at the Coliseum.
“That’s our building,” Cizikas said. “Our fans get us going every single time they’re behind us, no matter what. We feed off that energy, we love playing in that building, we love playing in front of them and that’s when we play our best hockey. We’re excited for the challenge ahead of us tomorrow.”