NY Islanders third period comeback bid falls shot; fall 5-3 to Lightning in Tampa

The New York Islanders tried to mount what would've been a historic comeback, but it fell short on Saturday afternoon, falling 5-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amelie Arena for their fourth straight loss (0-2-2). Nikita Kucherov extended his point streak to eight games with a goal and three assists. It was his second consecutive four-point game, and he now has 17 points during the streak. Bradyen Point had a pair of goals, and Jake Gientzel picked up a goal and assist for the Lightning (43-25-5), who won all three games of their homestand. Jonas Johannson made 35 saves in the win.

Ryan Pulock (PP), Marc Gatcomb, and Tony DeAngelo all scored third-period goals for the Islanders, who are now three points behind the New York Rangers for the second wild card after the Blueshirts defeated the San Jose Sharks 6-1 on Saturday night. Ilya Sorokin made 19 saves. “Sometimes the bounces just don’t go your way, but I liked the push we had in the third,” Gatcomb said. “It’s tough.”

"This is a good group," Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. "I mean, the guys are working hard. They are resilient. I thought we played a really good game. I know I don't have much to support what I'm saying in the way that we lost the game results wise, but I mean, we did a lot of good things out there."

The Islanders had multiple chances playing 6-on-5 but were unable to score the equalizer. After a Tampa Bay turnover at the blue line, Bo Horvat had a backhand shot stopped by Johnansson on the doorstep. Later Kucherov turned down a shot at the empty net and failed to connect on a pass that prolonged the Islanders' opportunity to tie the game before Geuntzel's empty-netter.

"We've been playing well this homestand and I think we just got a little bit careless with our decisions with the puck and got away from why we were having success during that third period," Point said via NHL.com. "Luckily 'Jo' shut the door and made some big saves, especially on the 6-on-5 (at the end of the game)."

The Islanders have a quick turnaround with a game Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. Face-off is scheduled at 5:00 PM EDT.