In Edmonton, the Tampa Bay Lightning responded to quickly to what little adversity they faced in Game 4 with the New York Islanders.
Seventeen seconds after the Isles posted a 10-9 lead in the second period, Blake Coleman scored to tie the game at 1-1.
“I’d go as far to say [Point is] the most dangerous guy in the playoffs this year,” Coleman said. “He’s a special talent. He tilts the ice every time he’s out there. Anytime you have a guy like that in your lineup, you have a better chance of winning hockey games.”
Ondrej Palat netted what would be the game-winner just 12 seconds later.
“We played a great game,” Palat said. “We need to turn the page and get ready for the next game. We just need to play our game, stay focused and do what makes us successful.”
From there, the house fell in on the Islanders in a 4-1 loss to be pushed to the brink of elimination.
Brock Nelson had staked the Isles to the lead.
“You’re always focused on winning,” New York’s Scott Mayfield said. “You go out there to win. We need to win the next one.”
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves to secure the win and a 3-1 series lead for the Bolts.
“Just because you’re one game away, doesn’t mean you’re in,” Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper said.
“You’re still one game away. We’re going to have to match an effort that we’ve watched [the Columbus Blue Jackets] give, and [the Boston Bruins] give, and I’m sure the Islanders are going to give. We’ve gone through this. We know what we have to do.”
Brayden Point also scored fo the Lightning.
“Their first line put a mark on us in a couple of game here,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “They’re all good players. They’re outstanding players. They can make plays. They go to the hard areas. … They’re high-level, elite players. You can’t give them an inch. We’ve given them too many inches.”
Pat Maroon added empty net goal to complete the scoring.
[WATCH: All Lightning vs. Islanders highlights]
Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves in the loss.
“You want to follow up a goal with a good shift and kind of stay on it,” Nelson said. “They had a better response than we did and that was the difference, really. Thirty seconds there. If you can hang on, it’s a different game.”
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