Our
New York Islanders came into Friday night’s game 4 down 2 games to 1 after a
painful O.T. loss on Tuesday. A win
tonight would tie the series at 2 all while a loss stacks the deck against New
York at 3-1 (win series 90.3% of the time).
Cal Clutterbuck thought the Islanders chances were pretty good at a
comeback, "If we play that way we give ourselves a good chance to
win." In Game 3, the Islanders
played almost well enough to win. Well
enough if you don’t count giving up the lead three separate times. The adjustments they need to make for tonight
are to eliminate the type of defensive mistakes they have been guilty of
lately, push hard for a full 60 minutes and find a way to jumpstart their
struggling PP. Rumors of a few lineup
changes trickled through Twitter today and came to light during warm ups. Ryan Strome and Ryan Pulock returned to the
roster in lieu of Alan Quine and Marek Zidlicky. Per @StatsCentre, “the Islanders will go for
their 1st home win in a 2nd round series since May 12, 1993 - a 7-5 win vs the
Pens in Gm 6 of their Patrick Div. Final.”
The
Islanders came out sloppy, but physical.
They got pressure on the Tampa net and frustrated the Lightning until
they were awarded a PP. Kyle Okposo (Kulemin
& Nielsen) managed a huge PPG and helped the Islanders score the elusive
first goal of the game, 1-0. Isles
maintain offensive zone pressure. John Tavares
rings one off the post on an odd man rush and then Thomas Hickey insights
Callahan into a double minor PP chance.
Unfortunately, the Islanders manage 1 shot on the 4:00 man advantage and
give the TBL back some confidence after a well-played period. Shots are 16-6 Isles after the first.
Casey
Cizikas called for tripping early in the 2nd period as Thomas Greiss
lost a skate blade that can’t be fixed at the bench. So JF Berube came in with Greiss to locker
room for repairs. It marks Berube’s
first NHL playoff appearance. Berube made
a couple of key saves helping the Isles kill the Lightning PP. Greiss returned a few minutes later to relieve
Berube at the Isles net to the cheer of the sellout crowd. New York much better defensively, especially
at center ice but managed only 6 shots in the middle period. Brock Nelson gave the Isles a late penalty to
finish the period and de Haan came close with a good shorthanded chance. Thomas Greiss and Thomas Hickey were big for
New York. Some concerns for Cal
Clutterbuck who missed regular and PK shifts in the period. Shots were 10-6 TBL.
The
3rd period was delayed due to some damage form the Zamboni to corner
boards at the Barclays center. The
Islanders continued the press, but was Kucherov that tied it, short side at 1-1
with 12:11 to go. Garrison went on to hit Okposo in
the face with his stick, no call. Greiss
(19 of 20 with a .950Sv%) came up big with a minute left after a Leddy turnover
on a Killorn writer in the slot. The
game would go to overtime. Shots were
6-5 in the period and 28-22 after regulation.
Isles were 1/3 man up and 3/3 man down, 45-28 in hits.
The
Islanders required overtime (2-1) in 4 of the last five games at the Barclays Center. In tonight’s extra session, de Haan broke a stick
and took one from Okposo, who can’t make an effective defensive play a few seconds later. This resulted in a Garrison score and the game winner benefitting from a de Haan screen of greiss just 1:34 in. Tampa Bay wins it 2-1.
The
positives were the play of the 4th line yet again as well as the
unyielding play of Thomas Hickey. I'll award Grail Knight of the game to Hickey for the tempo of his game tonight and acknowledgement for all the little things he does game in and game out.
The
game was nasty and the Islanders played well for most of it, but lost again. The power play has been so egregious, it
leaves little to depend on. The
Islanders were strong to start and seemed to succumb in the third period and
fall short gain in O.T. for the second straight game. They have been out shot 104-52 after
the first period in the series. Thomas Greiss
was good, but Ben Bishop played another solid game and kept the Lightning
around until they got it done. He helps Tampa endure until they can capitalize on opportunities later on in the
game.
Let’s
look back on the double minor opportunity in the first period in which the Islanders managed
only 1 shot. That leaves no room to
bitch about blown calls by the officials.
Let’s also acknowledge that the Lightning have done a good job keying on John
Tavares. In the first 7 games, JT had 6
and 5 for 11 points (5-2). In the last
three, he has been held to no points (0-3).
The Islanders were a bounce or two away from winning both O.T. games and
having the 3-1 lead in the series. But
the reality is Tampa Bay actually has it with game 5 going back to Florida.
Hearing
the Lightning players giggle and taunt fans in celebration of their well fought
and deserved win still turns my stomach.
Yeah, it makes me mad. The odds say the Isles have a 90.3% chance to yield the series while down 3-1. We all know
what is at stake here. Since the
Isles can’t seem to catch a break, I guess they need to ALL man up and make
their own for game 5.
It’s
that simple. There is no time for
anything else.
Isles
Notes:
The
@TBLightning (.769) own the
highest win percentage in playoff OT road games in #StanleyCup Playoffs
history (min. 2 GP). @EliasSports
Game
5 is in Tampa at 3pm while Game 6 on Tuesday would be a 7:30 pm start in
Brooklyn.
John
Tavares was named one of three finalists (Ovechkin, Weber) for the NHL’s Mark
Messier Leadership Award.
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