After going down 4-0, third period goals from Pulock, Gatcomb, and DeAngelo gave the Isles some life, but they came up short.
Another game with a chance to grab a playoff spot, another game where the New York Islanders fall flat on their faces… sort of.
After a terrible first period and an uninspiring second period, the Isles made things lively starting six minutes into the third period.
Goals from Ryan Pulock, Marc Gatcomb, and Tony DeAngelo came in quick succession, giving the Isles a fighting chance, but ultimately Tampa would pick up an empty net goal to seal the win as they celebrated Ryan McDonagh’s 1000th NHL game.
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Originally, Andrei Vasilevskiy seemed poised to start the game, but Jonas Johansson was in net instead after warmups, which had the MSG broadcast wondering if the Isles would be able to take advantage of a goalie who hadn’t played in a while.
That question was answered early, as it only took seven and a half minutes for the Isles to be down 2-0 thanks to Nikita Kucherov and Nick Perbix, despite outshooting Tampa 8-3.
Brayden Point would also add another goal on top of that at the end of the first, giving the Lightning a 3-0 lead after one.
Alex Romanov delivered a crushing hit on Anthony Cirelli that attracted Nick Paul’s attention, but no penalties came out of that. Later, though, Anthony Duclair drew a penalty, sending Darren Raddysh to the box for tripping, but the Isles couldn’t convert on the man advantage.
At the end of the second, Point would score again, making it 4-0 Tampa, a massive hole for the Isles to climb out of in the third.
But… Cirelli took a penalty about five minutes in to the third, and Ryan Pulock converted on a blast from the point to make it 4-1.
Less than two minutes later, Marc Gatcomb would make it 4-2, after picking up Johansson’s clearing attempt around the boards.
Just a minute later, Max Tsyplakov took a shot that was saved, but Tony DeAngelo got to the rebound first, putting it past Johansson to make it 4-3.
Ilya Sorokin made a big save on Jake Guentzel to keep the Isles in it, but then after pulling him for the extra skater, Guentzel would be the one to get the goal to seal the win for Tampa.
Up Next
Next, the Isles head up to Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes tomorrow at 5pm EST. It’s another tough team to face as the Isles hope to stay in the playoff race.