Islanders in the Familiar Series hole, Down 2-1 vs Lightning. Islanders vs Lightning The New York Islander are in a familiar situation, leading a series 2-1 following a close loss in Game 3 at residence.
The very first 2 times they advanced in this series, they came back with 3 consecutive wins to defeat Pittsburgh and Boston. It provides the Islanders have some hope of heading into Game 4 versus Tampa Bay on Saturday night at Nassau Coliseum.
“We’ve seen it before — simply take care of things,” said coach Barry Trotz. “You have always had that uncertainty if you’ve not experienced it. We’ve done that twice before, so there should be no question about our boys’ abilities. We did not drop a series. In some respects, the series may have only recently started.”
For each season, the Islanders play good enough to finish the Top 3 but fell far short, and they used it as an incentive to recover and reverse the tides.
In their game against Pittsburgh, they scored three times in the third quarter to level the game 4-4 before Penguins’ Brandon Tanev scored the game-winning goal with 3 1/2 minutes remaining. Mathew Baral knotted it at 1 with 5 1/2 mins left in the period versus Boston, as well as the Islanders dropped on Brad Marchand’s fluky, odd-angle shot 1 1/2 minutes in extra hours.
This time, Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point scored the game-winning goal midway through the second half on a “lucky” move in which he swiped the right ball goalkeeper Semyon Varlamov while falling to the ground.
Now it’s essential that the Icelandic people find a method of getting back to New York’s defence vigour and compete in fighting against reigning champion Lightning.
“It’s up to all of us to accomplish it, not hoping or whatever. We’re putting in the job,” stated Trotz. “The interesting thing is to grow more and stronger for clubs the further you go over to playoff. This is when you have to tune in to their game. You have to tune.”
After an average of 3.6 goals a game during their first two seasons, the Islanders had five goals on 85 shots versus Lightning goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevskiy after two seasons.
Barzal said of the Lightning, “Oh, just look at their back end. “It was long, heavy D, moving wall, and Vasilevsky was one of the greatest in the League. Those two factors, I suppose, are together, which make it difficult.”
After the 2-1 loss at home in the opening of the season in a match, Tampa Bay Coach Jon Cooper did not think his squad was playing the best. Since they got through the streets, they had gained their defence vigour. After bringing the total 16 shots during the first two games, Tampa Bay obstructed 21 attempts throughout Thursday nights show wins.
“We spoke about it soon after Game 1, when we lost the match and didn’t do much to give us the opportunity,” stated Ryan McDonagh, Lightning Defender. “Shot block is among those, and I believe like everybody’s readiness is moved much higher since this match.”
Lightning is already striking from Points, who has scored in six consecutive matches in addition to their compact defence. He leads the team with eleven points in the post-season as his strike seems to be the greatest since Ottawa’s Martin Havlat struck six times in 2006.
“I believe you gain an understanding of what he’s able to accomplish upon on ice whenever you see point playing, his hard work,” said Barzal. “He’s one of toughest rivals in the game. He’s simply adamant in each and every area.”
Scoring first
Each of the first 3 matches of this series has been taken by the scored side. Lightning is 10-1 when this post-season is first achieved and 0-3 if the first score is allowed. The Islanders are 4-1 in the first goal and 5-5 during the first score.
“When you first score, it is usually easier, but I believe it doesn’t sound important,” Leo Komarov of the Islanders remarked. “We have only to perform good and continue playing his game, but we’re all going to be very good.”
Success roads
The Lightning has advanced to 6-1 after their victory in Game 3 for this year’s playoff. They’re at least 4-3 after dividing the very first two matches.
“We just got up,” Steven Stamkos of Tampa Bay remarked. “You’re playing a bit more simple street game with history demonstrates. You understand it will be a challenging evening, especially if you do go up in the building like that against a club like (the Islanders). You only expect a certain level of fighting, a degree of competing to grow.”
The Islanders are five-three on the road and four-three at homes.
