TORONTO – New York posted its first victory in the Eastern Conference Final, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 in Game 3 from Edmonton’s Rogers Place Friday night.
The
Lightning still lead the best-of-seven series by a 2-1 count over the
Islanders.
New York
scored the game’s opening goal, Cal Clutterbuck finishing off a sequence of
heavy pressure on the Lightning net and shooting over Lightning netminder
Andrei Vasilevskiy to put the Islanders up 1-0 at 12:58 of the first period.
The
Lightning tied the game soon after, Mikhail Sergachev backhanding a shot over
the glove of Semyon Varlamov from the slot to level the score 1-1 at 16:31 of
the first.
The
Islanders scored twice in the second period to take a 3-1 lead into the second
intermission.
Isles
defenseman Adam Pelech beat Vasilevskiy to the far post from the left circle to
put New York back in front 2-1 at 11:50 of the middle frame. The Islanders
pushed their advantage to 3-1 at 13:50 of the second after Anthony Beauvillier
found the back of the net for his ninth goal this postseason.
Tampa Bay
got a goal back after Ondrej Palat redirected Nikita Kucherov’s pass past
Varlamov.
The
Lightning tied the game 3-3 with 7:56 remaining in regulation, Tyler Johnson
tipping Erik Cernak’s shot from the point past Varlamov to get the Bolts back
on even terms.
The
Islanders went back in the lead for good with 3:25 to go, Brock Nelson scoring
from the lower right circle and beating Vasilevskiy to the far post for the
game-winning goal.
New York
added an empty-net goal with 36 seconds remaining for the 5-3 final,
Jean-Gabriel Pageau scoring to add an insurance tally.
Vasilevskiy
stopped 31-of-35 shots in the loss, ending his six-game win streak.
Game 4 of
the Eastern Conference Final between Tampa Bay and the New York Islanders will
take place Sunday from Edmonton’s Rogers Place (3 p.m. puck drop).
NOTES: Tampa Bay saw its six-game playoff
win streak come to an end…Sergachev scored his second goal of the 2020 Playoffs
and first of the Eastern Conference Final (Sergachev also scored in Game 3 of
the Second Round vs. Boston)…Palat’s power-play goal was his 53rd career
playoff point, Palat passing Vincent Lecavalier and tying Steven Stamkos for
fifth place among Tampa Bay’s all-time playoff scoring leaders….Tampa Bay
outshot New York 37-36. Blake Coleman, Anthony Cirelli, Nikita Kucherov and
Mikhail Sergachev each had four shots to pace the Lightning.
