3 Takeaways: Islanders Strike the Lightning 6-2 

The New York Islanders exploded with six goals in a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night at UBS Arena, earning their second consecutive win coming out of the NHL All-Star break.  
 
Noah Dobson, Mathew Barzal (1G, 1A), Kyle Palmieri, Ryan Pulock and Bo Horvat (1G, 1A) drove the offense for the Islanders, while Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Hagel netted the pair of goals for the Lightning. The win marked the second time this season the Islanders scored six goals in a game and fourth time they won a game by a margin of four goals. With their second straight victory, the Islanders strung together two wins for the first time since Dec 11 – 13. 

In a game where goals came from six different players – two defenseman - with 11 total Islanders hitting the scoresheet, the full team effort was motivational for the group.  

“We have so much depth. We have four very good centerman, four good lines. Three pairs of six good defenseman and good goaltending. That’s depth,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “We’re starting to look like a team that works together, and that makes me happy.”

Roy had the goal of cutting down shot total since he took over as Head Coach, as a strong defensive performance of holding the Lightning to 20 shots on goal was an encouraging sign. The shots against ranks the second-fewest shots the Isles have held an opponent to this season. 

“[The Lightning] are a high offensive team and they’ve got a lot of scoring power up front,” Casey Cizikas said. “We did a good job of containing that and limiting their chances. I thought our defenseman did a good job of closing gaps and shutting them down.”

With the win, the Islanders (56 points) closed the gap with the Lightning (59 points) while maintaining a game in hand. Tampa currently occupies the first wild card in the Eastern Conference.

ISLANDERS PUT TOGETHER DOMINANT PERFORMANCE

Head Coach Patrick Roy was looking to see how his team would respond after Monday’s emotional win over Toronto and he was pleased to see his group continue the momentum. 

“Right after [Monday’s] game, it was about enjoying it for the next one, it’s all business for the next game,” Mat Barzal said. “We know where we are in the standings, we have to get some wins together to get into the playoffs.”

After Roy stressed the importance of a strong start against a team on the second half of a back-to-back, the Islanders met their coach’s challenge. New York held Tampa Bay to three shots on goal and took a 3-1 lead in the opening 20 minutes.

The Islanders jumped on the scoreboard first, as Jean-Gabiel Pageau sent a nifty, no-look pass to Noah Dobson, whose shot bounced off the skates of Erik Cernak and into the net. 

The league-leader in points briefly tied it for the Lightning, as Nikita Kucherov responded with his 33rd goal and 87th point of the season, rifling a shot from the point that beat Sorokin and tied the game.

Right off a faceoff win, Bo Horvat darted a pass to Barzal, who shelfed a beauty of a backhand past Jonas Johansson to gain a 2-1 advantage. Building off the momentum, Mike Reilly swooped behind the net with the puck and found Kyle Palmieri, who banked a shot from the right side of the net to extend the lead to 3-1.

Though there was a lot to like about the opening 20 minutes, but the stanza wasn’t perfect. A late penalty taken late in the first period set up the Lightning with a power play to start the second period. The Lightning pounced on the opportunity as Brandon Hagel’s goal cut the Isles lead to 3-2 at 1:14 of the second period. 

Letting leads slip was a recurring weakness for the Islanders this season, they found their confidence after the Lightning cut the lead to 3-2. Roy credited his team’s receptiveness to his message.

“It’s nice to have a structure, but it’s also a mindset,” Roy said. “Maybe there was a moment where I thought we lost our focus, we had a good talk on the bench at some point and they guys got their focus back.”

Instead of sitting back after the second Lightning goal, the Islanders retaliated with force, scoring twice in the span of 1:08 to create a commanding 5-2 lead.

The Islanders converted on their third power play of the night. After Pageau was kicked from the circle, Pierre Engvall won a faceoff in the offensive zone, sending the puck to Ryan Pulock, who wound up for a slapshot and blasted one past Johansson at 7:10 of the second period to regain the two-goal advantage.

“It was a critical point of the game,” Pulock said. “Engvall comes in and wins a big draw, I was able to get some space in the middle and take a shot.” 

The Isles continued to push as Bo Horvat’s long shot found its way to the back of the net through traffic, putting the Isles up by three. En route to building a comfortable lead, the Isles were able to lock it down defensively, holding the Lightning to one shot on goal in the back half of the second period.

Brock Nelson left the game in the second period after a hit from Emil Lilleberg but returned to start the third period. He registered a team-high six shots on goal.

CIZIKAS SCORES IN RETURN

Casey Cizikas had a strong showing on Thursday in his first game back from a lower-body injury, back into game action like he didn’t miss a beat.

The center zipped through and drove to the net to bury the sixth Islander goal at 15:22 of the second period. After being sidelined for 10 games and playing for the first time since Jan. 9, the veteran center was hungry to contribute for his team.  

“I was so happy to be back. It’s so tough watching your guys battle every night, you want to be a part of that so bad,” Cizikas said. “It pushed me harder to get back in and the guys made it easy for me. It was a great team effort.” 

Cizikas skated 14:37 in his return, registering two shots on goal, one hit, blocking two shots and going 4-for-5 in the dot. 

“He’s playing well on the PK and scored a nice goal,” Roy said of Cizikas. “For a guy that didn’t play for a bit of time, I’m very impressed with him.”

The ‘Identity Line’ of Cizikas, Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin was reunited for the first time since Jan. 9. 

Roy was pleased with the line’s performance, especially matched up against the NHL league leader in points.

“These three are clicking so well," Roy said. "They were playing against Kucherov and I was comfortable."

BARZAL AND PALMIERI STAY HOT 

On a night where 11 players hit the scoresheet, Mathew Barzal and Kyle Palmieri contributed and extended their respective point streak to four games in the process.

Barzal posted a multipoint performance with the second goal of the game and an assist on Horvat’s goal in the second period, for three goals and three assists in his last four games. Barzal was named the game’s first star. 

Kyle Palmieri continued his hot streak, scoring his third goal in four games and fourth in the last seven games.