Lightning 4 (EN), Islanders 2: Quick strikes haunt once again

9 months ago  /  Lighthouse Hockey

Coming in for a crash landing. | Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images


This team looks like it’s playing for Lane. Newsflash: The New York Islanders lost a sleepy matinee game at home. This is the way.
In a frustrating and repetitive season, the Islanders have a few ways they lose over and over. Today in a 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, it was with two quick goals conceded that set an oppressive tone for the rest of the day.
They were outplayed in the first, where they gave up two goals inside the first 5:34, and they weren’t really any better in the second, when they gave up another to enter the third trailing 3-0.
A late comeback attempt was at least a consolation to give the afternoon fans a few moments to celebrate, but the die for this game appeared cast in those opening minutes.
[NHL Gamecenter | Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick]
The Lightning opened scoring 4:12 into the game, keeping possession and threats alive for a few more seconds after Adam Pelech returned to the ice from a tripping penalty. Nicholas Paul was open on the weak side, and his shot went off the post, off Ilya Sorokin’s skate and in.
Between the Lightning’s two early goals, the Islanders thought they’d tied it at 1-1. Mat Barzal sent a shot that took a couple of bounces, including off Bo Horvat, to go into the Lightning net. But the visitors challenged for offside, and it wasn’t controversial to find Anders Lee had been the culprit.
So instead of 1-1, it was still 1-0, and the Lightning made it 2-0 less than a minute later. Nikita Kucherov blasted from the point, and it appeared to be deflected by Adam Pelech’s wave in front of Sorokin.
Even if the Isles wanted to bemoan their misfortune, they really created no fortune of their own. They looked slow, misfired frequently and did nothing to bring the crowd into the afternoon until it was way too late.
Trailing 3-0 and pissing off their home fans, the Isles finally came out with energy and purpose in the third, perhaps stirred by continued line blending by Patrick Roy. But it took a while for them to build threats, and their results came too little, too late.
With ol’ friend Carp Lad Calvin de Haan in the box for the second time of the afternoon, the Isles pulled Ilya Sorokin for a sixth attacker. They did not score on the power play, but converted a few seconds afterward at 6-on-5. Anders Lee, at the top of the crease, redirected Barzal’s pass from the left wing to make it 3-1 at 13:44.
The Isles’ next opportunity came after Victor Hedman cleared the puck over the glass — though he and coach Jon Cooper violently protested that it deflected on its way, perhaps off Brock Nelson’s leg. It took 1:22 of power play time, and with Sorokin out for a sixth attacker again, but they pulled it to 3-2 with a Nelson screen shot from the slot, set up by Noah Dobson’s 53rd assist of the season.
But Luke Glendening erased any lingering doubts about the outcome — which were more in the Lightning’s heads than the Isles — with an empty netter with 30 seconds to go. Officially ,the Isles outshot the Lightning 19-6 in the third, but that is of course deceiving and only indicative of a desperate comeback effort against a team enjoying a comfortable afternoon cushion.
Once again, the Isles at least “did not give up,” or whatever post-game consolation quote we’ll get, I guess.
Once again, it was infuriating to see them put themselves in this position, again and again and again.
Lineup Notes
Casey Cizikas was back in the lineup, mitigating fears of a longer layoff. So there’s that.
Up Next
This team now travels to Dallas, a very tough opponent on Monday, and then to fellow wild card chaser Detroit, where they’ll enjoy another season-ending loss....

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