NEW YORK -- Brian Boyle scored 2:48 into overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 5-4 win against the New York Islanders in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Barclays Center on Tuesday.
The Lightning, who trailed by one goal three times and tied the game in the final minute, took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. Game 4 is here Friday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).
Lightning tie it late, win Game 3 in overtime
Boyle goal gives Tampa Bay 2-1 series lead against Islanders
Boyle took the puck into the zone passed back to Ryan Callahan, who passed to Victor Hedman. Hedman's shot went wide, but the rebound came right to Boyle at the side of the net, and he put the puck over outstretched goalie Thomas Greiss.
"I saw [Greiss] was down, and I tried to stay at the blue line because I saw [Callahan] had the puck," Boyle said. "I tried to actually pass it to him but there wasn't much of a lane there. I knew he couldn't one-time it. Fortunate that I think it was [Hedman] who jumped up, and then I just tried to stop, looking for a rebound. It squirted out. It just kind of hit me in the foot. It was kind of a fortunate bounce."
The play was reviewed and it was ruled Boyle did not enter the zone offside.
Tampa Bay tied the game 4-4 with 38.4 seconds left in the third period on a goal by Nikita Kucherov, who took a pass from Jonathan Drouin and beat Greiss. It was Kucherov's seventh goal, which leads the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Drouin left in the second period after a hit by New York Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey but returned midway through the third. Hickey's shoulder appeared to hit Drouin in the face, snapping his head backward at 5:42. Hickey was not given a penalty on the play, and Drouin's teammates were surprised the wing returned.
"[Drouin is] a warrior," Lightning goalie Ben Bishop said. "You could see how much better the 6-on-5 was with him out there. He really controls that power play or when there's an extra man. He's a big reason why we are where we are right now, and to see him come back and get an assist there, it's huge."
Cal Clutterbuck put New York ahead 4-3 with 8:37 to go in the third period with his second goal of the postseason, from the right circle after getting the puck from Casey Cizikas, who kicked it to him. Clutterbuck shot over Bishop's left shoulder for the Islanders' third one-goal lead.
Islanders forward Josh Bailey, who missed the first two games of the series with an upper-body injury, made it 1-0 at 12:05 of the first period off a pass from Nikolay Kulemin. It was Bailey's first goal in 22 games -- he last scored March 14 -- and his third playoff goal in 20 games.
The Lightning appeared to tie the game 1-1 at 13:32. Boyle scored but it was waved off because of a high stick. The play was reviewed and the call on the ice was upheld.
Tampa Bay did tie the game 1-1 on its second power play when Cizikas was called for tripping at 18:27 of the first. Ryan Callahan tipped a shot by Alex Killorn past Greiss with 13 seconds left.
The Islanders outshot the Lightning 17-9 in the first period but scored once.
"The first period, we weathered the storm a little bit," Hedman said. "It was a great battle. We were trading goals but got a big one at the end there. It was a big win for us. We lost home-ice advantage and had to come here to win games."
The Islanders, who won Game 1, outshot the Lightning 39-38.
"I don't think we want to over-pass it, but when you find the open man, and you have a shot, let's take it and get guys to the net," Islanders captain John Tavares said. "We really controlled the play at times, we just have to keep getting bodies to the net and try to create more space, throw pucks on net, make it hard on Bishop and make it hard on their defense."
Hedman gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead 8:10 into the second period with a slap shot from the slot. Tyler Johnson won the faceoff back to the defenseman, who one-timed it past Greiss. Hedman had a goal and two assists.
Nick Leddy's first goal of the playoffs tied the game 2-2. He took a slap shot from the left circle at 14:50.
Bailey scored a power-play goal 2:27 into the third period to make it 3-2. It was his first two-goal game since Feb 14, 2015. Vladislav Namestnikov scored for the Lightning 58 seconds later to tie the game 3-3.
"We probably should have won this game tonight and we let it slip away from us," Bailey said. "That side of it is frustrating. Obviously going forward, we have to try and lock games out and get the job done."
Bishop was pulled for an extra attacker with more than two minutes remaining.
"I can't sit here and say we were dead; we were down a goal late and had to rely on pulling the goalie, but you take away some chunk of the first period and it was scoring chances all over for both teams," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.
Bishop said, "We always feel like we are in the game. Guys did a good job of holding on there, and sometimes it takes a little bit longer, but we got one there in the last minute and obviously overtime."
