The Lightning have taken a 2-1 lead in their series against the New York Islanders. The Islanders won Game One with a 2-1 final score but the Lightning have come back and won the last two games to overtake the series lead. Tonight, the Lightning won with a 2-1 final and they dug their nails in to get this win in regulation.
As far as scoring goes, the Lightning scored 10 minutes into the first and held that lead until Cal Clutterbuck tied the game with just 3 minutes left in the second. That tie lasted about 2 minutes before another bane of my existence Brayden Point gave the Lightning the lead again.
For the final 3 minutes of the game, the Lightning’s defense was outstanding. I mean their dense was good all game but those final minutes were intense. They really hemmed the Islanders in their own zone and they kept them away from the net or any sort of hope for OT. The entire time the Islanders played with an empty net, they didn’t get one shot off Vasilevskiy. The Islanders were a mess at the end of this game. They just could not control the puck, they were running into each other, it was a disaster.
The Islanders have until Saturday night to scrape themselves back together for Game 4. They have got to pick themselves up if they don’t want to be eliminated by Tampa again. I think they need to do some shuffling in their lines. Their top guys have been real quiet so maybe try and get them rejuvenated out there to have some hope. That’s not going to solve all their problems but at least it will put some pep in their step. Overall just wipe the slate clean and move onto the next one. There is no deadly danger yet, it isn’t a 3-1 lead. Just get back on the horse for the next one. I’ve been full Islanders since the start of this series (obviously) so for my sanity sake, get it together.
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