Rapid Recap: Islanders 6, Lightning 1

Three days off seemingly did the New York Islanders some good, as the Isles came out of their late-season break for a decisive 6-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, snapping a two-game losing streak in the process.
Brock Nelson led the way with a three-point game (1G, 2A), while Adam Pelech, Kyle Palmieri, Ryan Pulock (1G, 1A), Simon Holmstrom and Bo Horvat (1G, 1A) also scored. In the process, the Islanders snapped a six-game losing streak vs the Lightning, earning their first regular season win against Tampa since Dec. 9, 2019. Nikita Kucherov scored the lone goal for the Bolts.
Ilya Sorokin picked up his first-career win against the Bolts.
Thursday's win was an important one, as both the Florida Panthers (89 points) and Pittsburgh Penguins (88 points) picked up regulation wins. The Islanders (89 points) remain in the second wild card, as the Panthers hold the regulation wins tiebreaker.

THE SCORING

1st Period
No scoring.
2nd Period
3:46 - NYI 1, TBL 0 - Adam Pelech puts a wrister through traffic and beats a screened Brian Elliott. Hudson Fasching and JG Pageau pick up the assists on the goal. Pelech's tally is his first since Feb. 26, snapping a 15-game drought.

9:54 - NYI 2, TBL 0 - Brock Nelson pots his 33rd goal of the season, dropping into the slot and scoring a one-timer on a feed from Samuel Bolduc below the goal line.

10:43 - NYI 3, TBL 0 - Kyle Palmieri follows up less than a minute later, cutting across the slot and snapping his 16th of the season past Elliott. Nelson and Ryan Pulock pick up the assists on the play.

16:47 - NYI 3, TBL 1 - The Lightning get on the board, as Nikita Kucherov snaps a shot glove side past Ilya Sorokin from the bottom of the left circle. Brayden Point picks up the primary assist.
19:40 - NYI 4, TBL 1 - Ryan Pulock scores his fifth goal of the season, beating a screened Elliott after the Engvall-Nelson-Palmieri trio created some havoc in front of the net. Nelson and Engvall pick up the two assists on the goal.

3rd Period
15:14 - NYI 5, TBL 1 - Simon Holmstrom scores in his return to the lineup, netting his sixth goal of the season. Bo Horvat and Zach Parise pick up the assists.

19:41 - NYI 6, TBL 1 - Bo Horvat scores his second goal since Feb. 26 - and first on a goaltender - completing a give and go with Noah Dobson. The goal is Horvat's 38th of the season.

NOTEBOOK:

Adam Pelech established a new career-high with his sixth goal of the season... Simon Holmstrom drew back into the lineup after missing one game, replacing Josh Bailey... Lightning captain Steven Stamkos played in his 1,000th game, becoming the third player from the 2008 NHL Draft to do so (Drew Doughty and Josh Bailey are the others)... The Islanders scored four goals in a period for the fifth time this season (at STL, vs COL, TOR, DET)... Pageau went 14-2 in the face-off dot... Matt Martin had a game-high six hits and a team-high five shots... Nelson had nine shot attempts (4 SOG, 5 A/B)... Pelech played a team-high 22:34...

GOALTENDING BATTLE:

Ilya Sorokin stopped 29 of 30 in the win.
Brian Elliott stopped 35 of 41 in the loss.

SPECIAL TEAMS BATTLE:

The Islanders power play went 0-for-2, while the penalty kill went 1-for-1.

IMAGE OF THE GAME:

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders host the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night at UBS Arena at 7:30 p.m. It's Jerry Garcia night and there will be a
Plaza Party, presented by Heineken
, starting at 4 p.m.