Tampa Bay take the series lead in game three at Nassau Coliseum with a 2-1 win. The Bolts have won back to back games as the New York Islanders fall behind 1-2 in the series. For what it’s worth, they fell behind against Pittsburgh and Boston as well.
Tampa Bay dominated the first period. They outshot New York 11-7 through the first twenty. The Lightning were able to avoid trips to the penalty box but they were also silenced on any power play opportunities as well. Yanni Gourde buried the first puck of the night. Tampa led by 1 after the first frame.
The Islanders spent a majority of the night fighting in front of the net. They never let up and played until a whistle was blown. There was a time or two where I thought it would’ve been blown but the Islanders never hesitated. That relentlessness led to the Islanders tying it up. Cal Clutterbuck scored his fourth of the postseason. Tampa found themselves on the power play when Adam Pelech went to the box for interference. Tampa was without a shot on goal for 11 minutes and didn’t find luck until the power play. Special teams must be out of practice because Tampa would not capitalize on the man addvantage. That would not stop the Lightning from finding luck in Brayden Point’s fall as he passed the puck to Anthony Cirelli who was in the paint and scored. I was a bit surprised to see this goal go unchallenged. I thought that there might have been some goalie contact but Barry Trotz might’ve had a better seat. Neither team had a shot on goal through 4 minutes to start the period.
The final frame was uneventful. The Islanders had some attempts but could not finish. It appeared that the team wasn’t on the same page. The Islanders ran into each other a few times tonight which does not bode well. Are they cracking under the semi finals pressure? They need to get back to being a cohesive unit if they expect to hang with the Lightning. I don’t see the Bolts letting up and they aren’t known for playing lazy hockey. The clock is ticking.
