The Tampa Bay Lightning took to the ice Thursday night at the St. Pete Times forum to take on the New York Islanders; before the night was over, they would take on three opponents: the opposing team, on-ice officials and the honchos at hockey operations in Toronto. In what was a sloppy contest from the get-go, the Lightning lost in overtime 3-2.
The Islanders opened up the scoring at the 2:15 mark of the first when Michael Grabner got a rebound past Lightning goalie Dan Ellis. The Bolts got one back with less than two minutes to go in the first when former Islander Sean Bergenheim skated in on a breakaway and beat New York goalie Rick DiPietro to tie the game at one.
Marty St. Louis broke the tie early in the second, skating down the right wing chipping a shot past DiPietro to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead in vintage Marty St. Louis fashion. P.A. Parenteau answered right back for New York on the power play at the 10-minute mark of the second to tie the score at two a-piece. One of the key points in the game came later in the second when the Lightning would get a full five-on-three power play with both Trevor Gillies and Jon Sim going off for New York. The Islanders were able to kill of the penalties however, keeping the score tied at two.
