While the ending wasn’t pretty, the Tampa Bay Lightning extended their win streak to three games with a 5-3 win over the New York Islanders. The story of this game was puck movement for the Lightning, who scored some beautiful goals off passing plays and utilized everyone on the ice.
Game Recap
With seven points in his last two games before this contest, Nikita Kucherov opened the scoring with his 33rd tally of the season off a cross-ice feed from Victor Hedman. Kucherov beat the Islanders’ defender with his speed and snapped a shot past Ilya Sorokin on Tampa Bay’s first shot of the game. Then, Nick Perbix joined the party with his fifth following a hectic scramble in front of the Islanders’ crease. The puck popped out to Perbix, who made no mistake to double the Lightning’s lead.
Brayden Point has picked up his pace of play over the past few games. He scored his 37th and 38th goals of the season to put the Lightning up by four. The first goal was off a center lane dish by Ryan McDonagh that fooled the entire New York defense, and the second was a cross-slot pass from who else but Kucherov. The Lightning led 4-0 heading into the third period and appeared to have two points under their belt. However, the Islanders had other plans for the game’s final frame.
Defenseman Ryan Pulock sparked the comeback for the Islanders with a bullet of a slap shot from the point on the power play. Two minutes later, Marc Gatcomb picked off an arid rim up the wall and crept down the right side to beat Jonas Johansson to cut the Lightning lead to two. Following those two goals, the Islanders scored a third in under five minutes in the third period. An innocent shot by Maxim Tsyplakov from high in the offensive zone led to a rebound opportunity for Tony DeAngelo, who put the puck in the back of the net. The Lightning would hold on to the lead and survive with an empty net goal from Jake Guentzel to close out the win.
Looking Ahead
The Lightning now have 91 points in 73 games played in a three-way race for the Atlantic Division title. Luckily, the Toronto Maple Leafs will go on the road to face a juggernaut Los Angeles Kings team with a record of 26-3-4 on home ice this season. A Maple Leafs loss in regulation would put the Lightning ahead of their divisional rival with just nine games left for both squads. As for the Panthers, they host the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday and would reclaim the top spot in the division with a win or overtime loss. The Lightning and Islanders will face off again on Tuesday (April 1) for a rematch. Puck drop for that game is at 7:30 p.m.
3 Stars of the Game
- Nikita Kucherov (one goal, three assists)
- Brayden Point (two goals)
- Jake Guentzel (one goal, one assist)
