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The Tampa Bay Lightning fell short, 2-1, in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series against the New York Islanders.
The Lightning were not on the same page offensively and didn’t play up to their competition. The Islanders cut off passing plays at the top of the zone and created attacks that led to goals. The game came down to specific turn overs by Tampa and lack thereof by New York.
First Period
The first meeting between the two since last summer’s Eastern Conference final started with an early brawl. Matt Martin and Barclay Goodrow received a pair of unsportsmanlike penalties just eight seconds into the game. The Islanders did not let that stop them.
Period one saw solid defense from both sides. Though not much offense was produced by Tampa Bay, they did a fine job creating movement and finding different directions for shot opportunities.
Period Two
The Islanders were first to score with a goal from Mat Barzal giving New York a 1-0 lead.
The second period saw power plays on both ends for tripping but neither team was able to capitalize. Tampa Bay saw a lot of mistakes made in their offense with forced passes. The Lightning were overall unable to create and capitalize on scoring opportunities against the New York defense.
Period Three
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The Lightning were unsuccessful to finish during the 90 seconds power play at the start of the period. But New York was not.
Defenseman Ryan Pulock was able to shoot one past Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy who missed the save to give his team a 2-0 lead.
The Lightning were not seeing much hope until the final minute in the third period when Brayden Point put Tampa Bay on the board.
Unfortunately for the Lightning, that was the only score they would see falling 2-1 at home.
The Lightning will be back at home on Tuesday for Game 2.
