*Photo from WFLA*
Series tied 1-1
The Tampa Bay Lightning are just too talented a team to stay down for long. So, after they lost the opening game to the New York Islanders, they got up and started throwing haymakers. Brayden Point scored, Victor Hedman scored, and the Lightning defeated the Islanders 4-2 on Tuesday night.
Between last year's run to the Stanley cup and this postseason, the Lightning have not been kept down for long. After they lose a game in the playoffs, they have always come back to win the following game. They have not lost back to back playoff games since the first round of the 2018-2019 playoffs, when they were swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Point said "We've got good leadership in our room, and they keep our team from getting too high or too low. I don't know, it's tough to put a finger on it really. It's gone good so far, but we can't be happy with just this one. It's going to be a hard, long series. We've got to look at the next one."
Point started the scoring with his 10th goal of the playoffs, coming 8:58 into the game to make it 1-0 Lightning. Ondrej Palat then scored 13:15 into the second period, extending the lead to 2-1 Lightning. In the 3rd, goals from defensemen Jan Rutta and Hedman made it a 4-1 game, which was enough for the win.
The Lightning have always been a potent scoring team, and their playoff run this year has been no different, as they've scored 17 power play goals this postseason, in addition to their even strength power. However, they have not seen any playoff goals from their defensemen so far. Rutta and Hedman's goals were the first by Tampa Bay defensemen this postseason.
Asked about that, Hedman said "It was huge. The first game, no one mentioned that the defense didn't score any goals, but you lose that game and all of a sudden it gets mentioned. We wanted to put an end to that tonight. What better way than top shelf by 'Roots.' We're super happy obviously with the win, and we're excited to go up to Long Island and keep it going."
Brock Nelson started the scoring for New York, tallying a power play goal 13:30 into the first period, tying the game 1-1 with his 7th playoff goal. They didn't score again until 16:44 into the 3rd, when Mat Barzal scored his 5th of the postseason to make it a 4-2 deficit, which they ultimately were unable to overcome.
Nelson said "We knew they were going to come with a good response after we got the first game. I thought we did a pretty good job coming out of the gates 1-1, but it's hockey. Bounces, breaks, whatever it may be, they were able to get a couple and get the lead, and we weren't able to get it back."
Game 3 of the series is on Thursday night in New York, with both teams aiming to take a 2-1 series lead on each other.
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