Game 6 Preview: Islanders vs. Lightning

GAME 6: ISLANDERS VS LIGHTNING
8 PM | NASSAU COLISEUM
TAMPA LEADS SERIES 3-2
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"You're going to see a very different team."
The New York Islanders have their backs against the wall for the first time in the postseason as they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in a must-win Game 6 on Wednesday night at Nassau Coliseum.
How the Islanders got to be down 3-2 in their semifinal series to the Lightning came as a bit of a shock. Monday night's Game 5 featured an uncharacteristic showing from the Islanders, who suffered an 8-0 rout to the Lightning down in Tampa. For the Islanders, it was one of those games where nothing seemed to go their way and their self-inflicted mistakes only worsened the damage the Bolts inflicted.

While the shutout loss certainly stung, the veteran and experienced Islanders have already regrouped and moved on. They've put the crummy game behind them and are focused on giving it 'everything they have' in Game 6 in order to keep their season alive.
"You have to have a short memory and that goes with the highs and the lows," Jordan Eberle said. "It's not a total point thing. They win one game and it doesn't matter if its' by eight or in overtime. You put that one aside, you learn from it - the same thing as when you win - and you move forward."

CLEAN IT UP

The biggest contributor to the Islanders' most one-sided playoff loss in franchise history was their poor puck management, decision making, undisciplined demeanor and inability to establish any rhythm. It didn't help that the Lightning were firing on all cylinders, with a Steven Stamkos goal setting the tone 45 seconds into the game, and Tampa receiving goals from six different players and receiving a plus-rating from every single skater en route to their dominant win.
For the Islanders, their play was sloppy and they fed right into Tampa's electric transition game that's manned with weapons up and down their lineup.
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"Turnovers," Casey Cizikas said of what's the area the team needs to be better at for Game 6. "That's the biggest thing. That's where they generate a lot of their offense. Us not getting pucks in deep, turning the puck over in the neutral zone and just outside of our blueline. They transition really well. They create a lot of chances that way. If we hold onto the puck, make smart plays and do the right things, they aren't going to get those chances."

FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

As Kyle Palmieri pointed out in Game 5's post-game presser, there's a reason the Islanders have made it this far in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And there's a reason the team has made back-to-back trips to the semifinals.
In the scheme of the Islanders uniformed identity and brand of hockey, Game 5 was an outlier. Totaling 57 PIMs, which included two offensive zone penalties and a Mathew Barzal five-minute major and game misconduct for cross checking, is not in the Islanders nature. Nor do they plan to allow that against the Lightning, whose potent power play was 3-for-6 and is 20-for-51 (39.2%) in the postseason.
Instead, the Islanders are treating it like 'a 24-hour flu and moving on.' They're betting on themselves to get back to the formula that bodes well for them. With a foundation based on out-willing their opponent, the Islanders know they have a lot more to give for Game 6.
"We've got to get back to our game," Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "Our game is having good structure, a real good work ethic, go to the net hard, force turnovers, play good defense, stay disciplined, play 200-feet and have a lot of battle in our game. If we do that, we usually have pretty good results. We have to trust that. In the last couple of years, with games in the regular season and playoffs, it's been a real good formula for us."

WHO'S UP FOR THE CHALLENGE?

While it's the first time during this playoff run that the Islanders are on the brink of elimination, it's not the first time this group has faced these do-or-die stakes. The journey to last year's Eastern Conference Final run featured a Game 7 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round and a Game 5 win in 2OT vs Tampa after the Islanders were down 3-1 in the ECF to the Lightning.
While every game and every series unveils differing circumstances, the Islanders plan to leverage that past experience as they fight for their lives on Wednesday. In doing so, they're framing it as a positive opportunity.
"If I would have said back before the season started that we'd be down three games to two in the conference final, 'Anybody in for that?' Everybody would put up their hand," Trotz said. "We'll worry about [Game 6]. How much do you want to commit to have one shot to go to the Stanley Cup Finals? How much are you willing to commit tomorrow? That's really the message. Go after it guys, you only get so many cracks at this."
Just as the Islanders are up for the challenge, they know their loyal fans will be too. This year's circumstances differ from any of those in last year's eerily silent bubble, in that the Islanders know how impactful the contagious energy and deafening atmosphere can be at the Coliseum.
The Islanders are intending to give it their all on Wednesday and are hoping their fans do the same.
"They've been unbelievable [from] the end of the season and obviously the playoffs," Eberle said. "You get a little extra boost when they're cheering. Our record shows for itself how well we've played there. In a must-win game, it's awesome that we get to start off at the Coliseum. You get their energy behind you, it gives you a little extra oomph. You're going to see a very different team. We have a veteran team that's going to respond."

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• Semyon Varlamov received the starting nod in Game 5, but was relieved by Ilya Sorokin after Tampa took a 3-0 lead in the first period. Trotz noted that the move was to wake up the team in front of Varlamov and not an action taken toward the veteran goalie. Varlamov made 13 saves on 16 shots, while Sorokin made 21 saves on 26 shots in the relief and the loss.
• On Tuesday afternoon, Barzal was issued a $5,000 fine, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for cross-checking Tampa Bay's Jan Rutta, by NHL Player Safety.

LIGHTNING NOTES:

• Six different players scored in Tampa's rout with two-goal efforts from Stamkos and Alex Killorn - who each scored one power-play goal - and goals from Yanni Gourde, Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point (power play) and Luke Schenn.
• Stamkos (2G, 1A), Killorn (2G, 1A) and Nikita Kucherov (3A) each tallied three points in the Lightning's Game 5 win.
• With his third period power-play goal, Brayden Point scored for the eighth-straight game becoming only the second player in NHL history to record a goal streak of eight games or more. The longest postseason goal streak was done so by Philadelphia's Reggie Leach, who posted a 10-game goal run in 1976.
• Schenn made his series debut in place of Erik Cernak, who was a game-time decision after suffering an injury in Game 4. Schenn's goal was his first of the postseason.
• Following the cross check from Barzal, Rutta did not return for the third period. Tampa Head Coach Jon Cooper did not have an update on the status of Rutta or Cernak during his availability on Tuesday afternoon.
• Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 21 shots he faced as he recorded his fourth career playoff shutout and third clean sheet of the 2021 Playoffs.