Lightning, Islanders ready for biggest tests in Eastern Conference Final

The Tampa Bay Lightning expect another physical battle when they face the New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference Final, beginning with Game 1 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS).

Although the Islanders' defensive structure and forward depth will be challenging, the Lightning said they'll be prepared for it after defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets in five games in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Boston Bruins in five games in the second round.
"The Islanders are pretty renowned for their defensive structure and play, but we've been pretty battle tested ourselves having to go against Columbus and Boston," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said Sunday. "So it should much of the same. It's going to be battles in front of the net and it's no series off for us in the defensive zone or in our offensive zone because I just feel like the three teams we're playing so far are exceptional in that area."
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The Islanders are allowing 1.94 goals per game, second in the postseason behind the Montreal Canadiens (1.90) and rank second in giving up 26.9 shots per game (Vegas Golden Knights, 24.7). New York is coming off perhaps its best performance of the postseason, limiting the Philadelphia Flyers to 16 shots on goal in a 4-0 win in Game 7 of the second round Saturday.
But the Lightning know the Islanders are also deep offensively. New York scored at least three goals in each of the seven games against Philadelphia and is third in the playoffs in averaging 3.38 goals per game behind the Colorado Avalanche (4.00) and Edmonton Oilers (3.75).
Forward Anthony Beauvillier leads the Islanders with eight goals, followed by Anders Lee, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Brock Nelson with seven each, but they've had 16 players score goals in the postseason, including 11 against the Flyers. New York has five players with at least 10 points: Josh Bailey 17 (two goals, 15 assists), Nelson 15, Mathew Barzal 13 (five goals, eight assists), Beauvillier 12 and Jordan Eberle 11 (three goals, eight assists).
"You look at Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Beauvillier, they've got some highly skilled players, but they're big bodies," Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said. "They're not afraid to go to the net. Barzal can turn you inside out if you don't have a good gap on him, so we've got to make it hard for those guys to get to the net and get entry into our zone.
"I think that's what made us successful in the previous two rounds, that we didn't give too much time and space to the opponents."

After defeating the Florida Panthers in four games in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, the Washington Capitals in five games in the first round and the Flyers in the second round, the Islanders will face their toughest challenge of the playoffs against the Lightning.
Tampa Bay went 2-1-0 in the round-robin portion of the Qualifiers and was the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference behind Philadelphia (3-0-0), but during the regular season it had the best points percentage in the NHL after Dec. 23 by going 26-8-2 (.750). The Lightning have continued that in the first two rounds of the playoffs, going 10-2.
"It's no surprise we have to go through Tampa Bay," Lee said. "[It's] a challenge that we want to have. We want to beat the best to be the best and all those things that you say all the time, but I think in our eyes, it's no surprise we're facing a great team."
Despite playing without forward Steven Stamkos because of an unspecified injury, the Lightning survived the Blue Jackets in a first-round series that included a 3-2 victory in five overtimes in Game 1 and a 5-4 overtime win in Game 6. Tampa Bay then knocked off Boston, the defending Eastern Conference champions, with the help of a 4-3 overtime win in Game 2 and a 3-2 victory in double overtime in Game 5.
Forward Brayden Point has stepped up in Stamkos' absence to lead Tampa Bay with 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) followed by forward Nikita Kucherov's 16 (four goals, 12 assists). Ryan McDonagh (26:41 of ice time per game) and Hedman (26:00) have been workhorses on defense throughout the playoffs and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy was superb in the first two rounds, playing every minute while going 8-2 with a 1.81 goals-against average and .933 save percentage.

The Lightning will also have the advantage of being well rested after completing their second-round series Aug. 31. The Islanders had one day off, which they spent traveling from Toronto to Edmonton, the hub city for the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final.
"We'll have to dig in," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "This team has accepted everything that's been thrown at us from scheduling to when we play, to all that stuff. This is just the new normal, and we'll deal with it and hopefully we'll have a good game tomorrow. That's all we can ask. I know our guys, they give you everything every night, night in and night out. We'll see tomorrow night."
NHL.com deputy managing editor Brian Compton contributed to this report