Lightning's Win Streak Snapped on Frustrating Night on Long Island

For the Tampa Bay Lightning seemingly everything has been going right on-route to a seven-game win streak. While there were a lot of positives on Tuesday night, a road battle with the Islanders saw the streak finally come to its end.

The first period certainly had some of the good, the bad and the ugly for the Bolts.

The contest was kicked off with a shift of Tampa Bay pressure, spurred by the combination of Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov. The trio were buzzing around the O-zone and had some good looks.

More good came in the form of another stout effort on the penalty kill. Tampa managed to control the puck and kill time effectively, even generating an offensive chance of their own.

Charle-Edouard D'Astous said it best at the intermission, though, the Bolts needed to spend more time in the offensive zone moving forward. They also gave up a good handful of solid chances in their own end of the ice.

Aside from a stalled Lightning power play, not a ton more to report from the first which ended scoreless.

The shots were 8-8 after one.

Isles Strike Early in Second

It didn't take long for New York to get on the board in period number two. In fact, it took less than a minute. Bo Horvat was a determined man, finding his own rebound in the slot and making no mistake. He wristed one past Vasilevskiy to make it 1-0 New York.

Pushback

The Bolts didn't roll over after surrendering the game's first tally. They went on a 7-0 run in terms of shots on goal after the Horvat marker.

Later in the frame, a quick passing play set up Cirelli off the rush. He made a nifty move to the backhand but Ilya Sorokin was there with his best stop of the night to that point, stymieing 'Tony' with the pad.

Tampa Bay was also able to sustain some zone time down the stretch of the period, but it was an offensive zone penalty that stalled that momentum. Darren Raddysh got a stick up along the boards and sat two for high sticking, virtually closing out the frame.

PK Promise Continues

The Lightning gave up just a single shot on goal during that kill. Andrei Vasilevskiy was there with the stop, and the rest was virtually smooth sailing to get to 2/2 on the kill.

The question became, would the solid finish to a stanza that started with the puck in their net motivate the Bolts in the third period?

New York Buys Breathing Room in Opening Half of Third

It would be a frustrating start to the final period when the Lightning were nabbed with another high-sticking call.

This time in a call the Bolts contested, it was a falling Kucherov who got the gate when his flailing stick caught an Islander high.

It wasn't a penalty that sunk the Lightning, though. Instead it was a bouncing puck in the slot that found the stick of Anthony Duclair. He beat Vasilevskiy to make it 2-0 New York.

Not Going Away Without a Fight

After some furious pressure, it took until late in the third for Tampa Bay to get on the board, from the unlikeliest of locations on the ice.

Dominic James potted his second of his young career from a tough angle to get the Lightning on the board with about three and a half minutes to play.

From there on in, it was waves of zone time and a goalie pull. Ultimately, though, the Bolts fell short and saw their seven-game win streak snapped on the Island. 2-1 Islanders was the final.

Three Stars of the Game

1- Ilya Sorokin (NYI)

2- Dominic James (TBL)

3- Anthony Duclair (NYI)

Up Next

The Lightning are back home to play host to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night at Benchmark International Arena, before welcoming the Islanders on Saturday night.