Going into last night's game, the New York Islanders had not lost two in a row in this season’s playoffs. The Tampa Bay Lightning, however, did a good job of changing that statistic. Every time the Islanders got momentum, the Lightning took it away.
It all started with the Isles’ Josh Bailey burying the first goal of the game just under the 8 minute mark. At the end of the 1st, the Lightning’s Ryan Callahan quieted the crowd by tying the game on a power play goal, scoring with a mere 12 1/2 seconds left on the clock. Between the two, Brian Boyle had a goal called back for high sticking.
Lightning’s Victor Hedman gave the Bolts their first lead of the night at 8:10 into the 2nd. With 5 minutes left, Islanders defensemen Nick Leddy answered back, tying the score yet again with a five-hole, slapshot goal against Lightning goalie Ben Bishop.
A monstrous body check came 6 minutes into the 2nd when Thomas Hickey hit Jonathan Drouin at a 45 degree angle. While it was a mean, clean hit, it was a scary one, and Drouin left the bench after the play. He remained in the locker room until halfway through the 3rd. I think everyone, including myself, thought he was going to be another name added to Tampa Bay's injured list.
Having Drouin back has been a great addition to the Lightning lineup. It was like making a trade and getting a star player. During Round 1 against the Detroit Redwings he set up the 3 PP goals. Drouin has one goal and seven assists for eight points in eight playoff games this postseason.
The game heated up in the 3rd with a combined 4 goals being scored, two from each team. Following a missed opportunity for a Tampa Bay PP, the Isles’ Bailey put a backhand saucer into the net, his 2nd goal of his first game in this series. Namestnikov responded with a goal tying the game again. We were now watching Game 3. Period 3. Tied, 3-3.
After Cal Clutterbuck scored making it a 4-3 game, Isles, it looked like the end for the Lightning. With over 2 minutes left to go, the Lightning pulled goalie Ben Bishop. The Bolts bounced back, and Nikita Kucherov tied the game with 38.6 seconds left, sending it into overtime. For Kucherov, this was his 7th goal of the playoffs. While it took the Bolts slightly longer to tie up the game for the fourth time of the evening, they finally tapped the Islanders' momentum, and Game 3 headed to OT.
The Lightning’s Brian Boyle scored the winning OT goal, leading the Lighting to a 5-4 win. That was one hell of a comeback.
Game 4 of the best-of-seven series will be played at the Barclays Center on Friday at 7 p.m.
This article appears in Apr 28 – May 4, 2016.