New York Islanders Fall to Lightning Despite Late Push (Highlights)

The New York Islanders lost a barn burner tonight to the Tampa Bay Lightning. An exciting third period wasn’t enough to overcome a four-goal deficit.

Ever since the playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning the New York Islanders looked completely overmatched by the Tampa team. Tonight was no different for most of the way.

Anthony Cirelli got the scoring going for Tampa Bay just 2:09 into the game. That goal would set the tone for this one, it was pretty clear it was going to be a high scoring game from the jump. Just 21 seconds later Tyler Johnson made it a two-goal lead.

Ryan Pulock got the Islanders on the board with an absolute rocket of a shot.

Ryan Pulock has shown off his wicked shot of late and it was put on display again tonight that’s for sure. Tampa would add one more before the end of the period courtesy of Victor Hedman and once again it was a two-goal lead.

The scoring barrage continued into the second period. Brayden Point scored his 28th of the year early in the second making it a 4-1 game.

Less than a minute later Ryan Pulock was back with his second blast of the night.

The hot-streak Ryan Pulock is on is beyond fun to watch. He’s not having the same caliber of rookie season that Mathew Barzal is having but it sure is a good time to watch him on a nightly basis now.

Shortly thereafter Anders Lee netter his 37th of the season making a once destined blowout a tight, one-goal game.

Then the wheels fell off. J.T. Miller, Mikhail Sergachev, and J.T. Miller again made it a 7-3 game. After two periods of play, the Lightning hung a seven spot on the Islanders. It was ugly.

Somehow, someway the Islanders came to life in the third period. Anders Lee added his second of the game to make it a 7-4 game. Then Anthony Beauvillier struck twice to bring the Islanders within one, again, just 4:36 into the final frame.

The Islanders were unable to net another and the final would be 7-6. Never bet the under when the Islanders play the Lighting (or when the Isles play whomever, realistically).

Next: Waiting For The Draft Lottery

A strong, late push wasn’t enough and the Islanders dropped to 2-5-3 for the month of March. The tank is back on and the Islanders will play again on Saturday against the Blackhawks who are three points behind the Isles (or ahead depending on how you look at it) in the Tank Olympics.