Revived New York Islanders Short Circuit Bolts in Game Three

From the desk of: NO SLEEP TILL BELMONT

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

2019   EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS   2020

Lightning lead Isles; 2-1

I - TBL 8; NYI 2

II - TBL 2; NYI 1

III - NYI 5; TBL 3

THE LONG ISLAND CENTER FOR MOOD MANAGEMENT WELCOMES YOU

What's a Long Islander to do when the opposition shows up for work a few forwards short of a dozen?  You forecheck the crap out of whoever is left.  I do not say that facetiously.  The Lightning were forced to play five different forwards in excess of eighteen minutes each.  They might as well have had "Tenderize Me" stitched on the back of their jerseys.

Tampa is making a big mistake if they're trying to raise the physicality of this series instead of what worked for them in game one: dump and chase and speed to the puck.  Time and again in game one they made Islanders defensemen turn their backs and skates towards the boards.  Lately, not so much.

And there's the rub ...

Coming off the Flyers series, who said the Islanders would need a few games before they get their skates under them?  Who predicted the Isles would be down 2-1 after three games?  And who said they'd be better for it?

Thank you very much, although the latter remains to be seen.

Game two was very much an Islander type game.  But they blinked, twice, and Lightning struck.  It goes like that sometimes.  Make no mistake: the Islanders are feeling good again .. and feisty.  Game three's boxscore says Tampa out-hit the Islanders by a 66-42 margin.  You can believe that if you like.  After all, numbers don't lie.  But if you watched, you know that's not what happened.  Long Island makes up for a disparity in hits via several scrums.  Moreover, Matt Martin exacts a measure of revenge upon Barclay Goodrow on behalf of Brock Nelson and Jean-Gabriel Pageau gives Nikita Kucherov a much needed attitude adjustment.  On a more clandestine level, Long Island also keeps a closer eye on Ryan McDonagh.

If the Islanders let one get away in game two, they slammed the door shut on game three.  Not before Tampa nearly takes over this game, proving once again they can outscore mistakes and in this instance a shortage of available skaters.  The Lightning overcome a 3-1 deficit with two goals in the third period.  But the reinvigorated Islanders strike back.  Brock Nelson scores at 16:35 assisted by Anthony Beaulliviere and Josh Bailey.  At 19:24 Jean-Gabriel Pageau scores into an empty net.

The Islanders finally break through Andrei Vasilevskiy with four goals on 35 shots.  Semyon Varlamov faces 37 shots and makes 34 saves.  But he plays much better than the numbers indicate.