The New York Islanders won their second consecutive Game 1 on the road of the 2016 NHL Playoffs, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on Wednesday night.
TheNew York Islanderswere able to take early control of their second round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 5-3 victory Wednesday night. This is the second straight series that the Islanders were able to take Game 1 on the road, as they did the same against the Florida Panthers in Round 1.
It was the Lightning though that struck first tonight. The Lightning got their crowd into a frenzy without wasting much time, asOndrej Palatscored his second goal of the postseason to give them the early 1-0 lead. But, the crowd would quickly get quiet, and eventually go silent as the Islanders went on a scoring barrage.
It took only 2:39 for the Islanders to tie the game up at one, whenTravis Hamonicscore his first goal of the postseason off assists fromAlan QuineandJohn Tavares. The Islanders were only heating up at that point, as they would receive a huge boost from youngsterShane Prince.
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Prince would light the lamp twice in the first period, scoring with 2:32 left in the period and then once again with only three seconds left before the first intermission. They were the second and third goals of the postseason for Prince, as both goals were assisted byBrock NelsonandRyan Strome.
The Islanders would then get on the board again in the second period. Tavares would net his sixth goal of the postseason, this one of the power play variety, to give the Islanders a 4-1 lead. The goal was assisted by Kyle Opkoso andFrans Nielsen, and was also the end of the night forBen Bishop.
Bishop would be pulled after the Tavares goal, as he brought none of the momentum from his Game 5 shutout of the first round to knock out the Detroit Red Wings. The Islanders were able to beat him four times in his 28:59 on the ice, making only nine saves.
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The Islanders would go into a conservative game plan after that, as they attempted only eight shots on Bishop’s replacement inAndrei Vasilevskiy. But, the Lightning were putting constant pressure on the Islanders, attacking relentlessly.
The Lightning took 36 shots on the evening compared to 22 for the Islanders, butThomas Greisswas up for the challenge.Nikita KucherovandValtteri Filppulawould both score in the third period, but Greiss made enough stops, saving 33 shots on the evening, to help the Islanders to the victory.
Next: New York Islanders vs. Tampa Bay Lightning 5 Predictions
Cal Clutterbuckwould score his first goal of the postseason with 55 seconds remaining to get to the final score of 5-3. The Islanders will be looking to take a commanding 2-0 series lead on Saturday before returning home to Barclays Center for Game 3 and 4.
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