The New York Islanders chased Vezina Trophy finalist Ben Bishop from Game 1 to take a 1-0 lead in the second round of the playoffs.
The Lightning took control of the game from the minute they stepped on the ice. They kept the puck in front of Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss and Ondrej Palat gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead.
It only lasted two minutes before Travis Hamonic scored, silencing Amalie Arena. The goal woke up the Islanders, who applied more pressure on Bishop and denied the Lightning any chance of clearing the puck.
Shane Prince added the second goal with three minutes left in the period.
Prince scored again with three seconds left in the period on a one timer on a pass from Ryan Strome.
“It was a great play by Brock [Nelson], he started both plays there,” said Prince. “[Strome] is a good playmaker and was able to find me. It’s a pleasure playing with those guys and I’m just happy to be able to contribute.”
Those two goals made him the first Islander since Duane Sutter in 1983 to score more than one goal in the first period of a playoff game.
The Lightning attempted to comeback, but Greiss remained strong and steady in his net, stopping all eleven shots. The Islanders only had five shots on goal, but captain John Tavares made his count on a power play.
“One of those nights where nothing goes your way,” said Bishop. “You just have to move on from it and we’ve got another game in a couple of days. It’s not about the last game anymore, it’s about the next one so I need to focus on that.”
The goal ended Bishop’s night. As he skated down the mean street to the bench, backup Andrei Vasilevskiy took the spot in the net. His teammates tried to add more goals, but Greiss would not give up.
But the change in goal must have done something to the Lightning. They started the third in full force, driving the net and pounding the puck at Greiss. Nikita Kucherov finally found a way into the net, causing the arena to explode.
They finally unchained themselves from the first two periods to put momentum on their side. The Islanders could not keep up or clear the puck this time. They only managed five shots on goal.
Thankfully for them, Greiss kept them in the game.
Matters became worse when Valtteri Flippula scored off his own rebound with three minutes left in the game. The goal gave more life to the Lightning who finally showed the same spunk from the beginning of the first.
The Lightning pulled Vasilevskiy for an extra attacker, which almost worked. Shot after shot went to Greiss, but they were not good enough.
Cal Clutterbuck finally gave the Islanders the breathing room they needed with a goal with 55 seconds left.
“I thought we had some good jump on making plays and the way we were just playing hard every shift and making it tough on them,” said Tavares. “I think we could have tried to stay a little more aggressive in the third, but they are a very good team and you knew they would respond.”
In the third period, Islanders coach Jack Capuano took a puck to the face.
He came back before the end of the game with stitches and a swollen eye.
The Lightning lost Erik Condra early in the game after a check by Casey Cizikas. Condra looked shaken and needed teammates to help him off the ice.
The Lightning have not released any updates about Condra.
They will play Game 2 on Saturday at 3 p.m. Eastern.
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