In Edmonton, the New York Islanders thought they had erased the bad taste from an 8-2 loss in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Final with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
With less than 90 seconds gone in the game, Matt Martin redirected a pass to the slot for a goal and a 1-0 lead.
But that was the extent of the Isles offense as the Lightning tallied two straight goals for a 2-1 win.
“We’ve lost some overtime games,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “This one’s a little punch in the gut, and every time we’ve done that, we’ve got up. You saw us. We had our energy. We had our game today, and we just didn’t get the result. I liked a lot of our game other than probably the last 30 seconds of that game.”
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves to get the win.
“It’s a tough way to lose,” Martin said. “We believed we could still win this series, and still do. Play like that, more often than not, you’re going to win. After a blowout loss, I liked our response as a group. Obviously, we need results right now. We need to find a way to win hockey games. This one got away from us.”
With 1:35 left in the opening frame Victor Hedman tied the game with a bomb from the left point to tie it.
“Up until that point, [the Islanders] pushed hard in the first,” Hedman said. “We were a little bit on our heels, but we got that goal. Nothing fancy about it. We win a face-off and go to the net. The puck obviously had eyes, but we’ll take it.”
After a scoreless middle frame, the Lightning assumed some margin of control of the game.
\With nine seconds left in regulation, Nikita Kucherov put home the winner for a 2-1 final.
“I made eye contact with [Ryan McDonagh]. I knew what he was going to do, and he probably knew what I was going to do,” Kucherov said. “He made a nice pass across the ice, and all I had to do was hit the open net. [Heck] of a play by him.”
The victory gives the Bolts a 2-0 series lead.
“Rarely do you lose guys in a game, let alone two guys, early,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “[Killorn] basically didn’t play the entire game. Point maybe played a shift or two more. So that’s a long stretch to go with just nine.
“It’s a gutty, gutty effort. … In the end, it was gutty. That’s what that effort was. It was just gutty.”
Neither team was able to score on the power play, including an Isles 5-on-3.
“When you have a 5-on-3, you want to capitalize,” New York’s Brock Nelson said. “You have like 38 seconds, so plenty of time. You’re hoping to get a look there. That can be a difference maker in the third.”
Game 3 is set for Friday in Edmonton.
[WATCH: All Islanders vs. Lightning highlights]
Semyon Varlamov made 19 saves in the loss.
You must be logged in to post a comment.