At some point the chances will start going in for the Tampa Bay Lightning, but where will they be in the playoff race when it happens. It was another night of seeing prime scoring opportunities hit the iron, go wide, get blocked, or stopped by the opposing goaltender. On this night it was Ilya Sorokin playing the role of spoiler as he stopped 28 Lightning shots in a 3-2 Islanders overtime win.
On a night where Andrei Vasilevsky turned aside 33 shots, the Lightning offense came up short again as Jake Guentzel and Nikita Kucherov were the lone goalscorers against a make-shift Islanders defense that held them to just 12 high-danger chances.
There were no goals scored in the first period (we know, spoiler alert), but both teams had their chances. The Lightning started strong and with Ilya Sorokin down, and out of position, Conor Geekie found the iron. Sorokin didn’t need the help of the iron when he stopped Jake Guentzel after a nice passing play off the rush provided a prime scoring chance. He also stoned Nikita Kucherov off of a snap-shot following a face-off win.
At the other end of the ice, Vasilevskiy was matching him save-for-save, with his best coming against Simon Holmstrom. Vasilvesky was anticipating a centering feed when Holmstrom flipped a shot at the near post. With his momentum already heading in the wrong direction, the Lightning netminder was able to get his left pad up just enough to keep the puck out of the net.
The two teams traded a nice rush of chances with the Point line on the ice as both teams momentarily abandoned defense and allowed end-to-end rushes. Credit to the goaltenders for their sharp play as they combined to stop all 24 shots that the teams combined to put on net in the first 20 minutes.
Most of those chances came at 5v5, but the Lightning had a brief power play at the end after Scott Pelech dumped Anthony Cirelli into the New York Islanders net. They didn’t convert, in fact they struggled to get the puck into the zone over the 30 seconds of man-advantage that they had, so it carried into the second period.
There were goals in the second period (spoiler number two), but most of the offense came off of the sticks of the Islanders at 5v5 play. The Lightning started the period with some zone time on the power play, but couldn’t get one past Sorokin. The best looks came from the point as Darren Raddysh was having his own personal hardest-shot contest off of feeds from Kucherov.
While they couldn’t find the back of the net with an extra skater, the guy they brought in to improve their 5v5 scoring did just that as Jake Guentzel redirected a shot from Erik Cernak to give the Lightning the lead.
Jake Guentzel (Erik Cernak, Gage Goncalves) 1-0 Lightning
From that point on, the ice tilted in the Islanders favor as they were able to sting together some long shifts in the Lightning zone. At one point, Victor Hedman and Darren Raddysh were caught out on the ice for almost three minutes in one stretch. To their credit, the Lightning pushed most of the pressure to the edges, but New York still piled up the chances.
With just under five minutes to go, the Lightning picked up another power play, and it was another two minutes of frustration as Kucherov found the post, Point was stoned by Sorokin, and Mitchell Chaffee was a tick too slow to a loose puck with a yawning net. The Islanders were conceding the perimeter and the Lightning struggled to adjust, going 0-for-3 on the power play.
It felt like the Lightning’s missed opportunities would come back to haunt them, and with under two minutes they did. Mathew Barzal and Erik Cernak came together while chasing a loose puck, and Cernak lost his edge. That allowed Barzal to cut into the net and while Vasilevskiy stopped his shot, the rebound was there for the newest Islander, Adam Boqvist, to put the rebound home.
Adam Boqvist (Mathew Barzal, Simon Holmstrom) 1-1
Honestly, for the first time this season, it looked like a little frustration was creeping into the Lightning’s game. Cernak was upset after the goal, and then in the third, Kucherov showed a little frustration during a power play with some interference behind the net.
Seven minutes into the final period, it looked like it would be another case of too many chances and not enough goals as Zemgus Girgensons went off the ice for a tripping penalty. The Lightning killed the penalty, but couldn’t clear the puck, and became infatuated with Maxim Tsyplakov behind the net. That allowed the Russian to slip it out to an unmarked Kyle Palmieri, and the ageless forward snuck one just inside the far post.
Kyle Palmieri (Maxim Tsyplakov) 2-1 Islanders
To add injury to deficit, Conor Geekie lost an edge on a zone entry and fell awkwardly with his arms pinned under his body. He skated off in obvious pain, favoring his arm.
So, it would be another five minutes of frustration and the Islanders eventually putting it into an empty net, right? Well, for four minutes and thirteen seconds that was the case especially when Gage Goncalves created a turnover and fed Girgensons who couldn’t bury the golden chance.
The good news is that when Nikita Kucherov is on the ice, good things are going to usually happen. The MVP candidate called his own number in the zone and snapped a shot through a screen and past Sorokin to tie the game with forty-seven seconds left on the clock.
Nikita Kucherov (Darren Raddysh, Brayden Point) 2-2
With the way the playoff race is shaping up, any point is a necessary point, so the Lightning grabbing one at the death was important. That would be all they picked up as Tony DeAngelo was able to get behind them on a line change in overtime, and he beat Vasilevskiy on a breakaway.
Tony DeAngelo (Bo Horvat, Simon Holmstrom) 3-2 Islanders
The Lightning did grab a point, which allowed them to hold onto a wild card spot. The scoreboard wasn’t friendly to them as Boston, Florida, Toronto, and Ottawa all won their games. The Lightning will have a couple of days off and then a huge two-game series at home against the Senators starting on Tuesday.
