UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Going into their Stanley Cup semifinal series, the Lightning realized how tough an opponent the Islanders would be, how physical they play, and how much of a charge they get from their fans at home in the Nassau Coliseum, something Tampa Bay didn’t have to overcome last postseason in the bubble.
The roof came off Nassau Coliseum as Anthony Beauvillier’s shot found the back of the net in overtime, sending the Lightning quietly down the tunnel and back home for a decisive Game 7.
Beer bottles and water bottles rained down onto the ice in celebration of the Islanders’ 3-2 victory. Beauvillier’s goal came with 1:08 into overtime off a Lightning turnover in their own zone.
As Game 6 wound down, the Lightning battled a resilient Islanders team and a hometown crowd energized by Scott Mayfield’s tying goal with 9:44 left in the third.
The Lightning saw a two-goal, second-period lead disappear, forcing the game into overtime. Mayfield, who had just two goals this season, jumped into the zone and rifled a shot high that deflected off the crossbar and into the net.
By the end of Game 6, the Lightning wore the battle scars of a their most hard-fought series of the past two posteasons. Captain Steven Stamkos skated into the locker room at the end of the second period with blood flowing from the bridge of his nose after he had his face smashed into the glass on a crosscheck from Mayfield in the New York zone.
Mayfield brought the Lightning bench to a boil in the first minutes of Wednesday night’s game, cross checking forward Nikita Kucherov from behind, sending this postseason’s top player to the ground with a bone-rattling hit to his lower back. After Kucherov awkwardly boarded Mathew Barzal into the boards, he skated off the ice and into the tunnel hunched over.
Point has scored so many ways, and Wednesday, he raced behind the net and won a puck battle with Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech, then sped in front of the net across the crease, took a pass from Anthony Cirelli and flicked the puck past goaltender Semyon Varlamov with Pelech on his back.
With that goal, Point moved within one of the longest playoff goal streak in NHL history. The Flyers’ Reggie Leach scored in 10 straight postseason games in 1976.
Ondrej Palat sent a stretch pass to Cirelli along the far boards and Cirelli swept in through the left circle and snapped a wrister past Varlamov stickside with 7:24 left in the second period.
Jordan Eberle cut the Tampa Bay lead to one with 5:38 left in the second period with a backhanded score that beat Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stickside. The Islanders had a golden chance late in the period. Matt Martin’s tip had Vasilevskiy overcommitted to the near post, and the puck skated across an empty crease, but David Savard blocked Casey Cizikas from getting his stick on it with his own stick.
The Islanders came out with a huge flurry in the third, and the Lightning killed off a critical penalty in the middle of the period, holding New York to just one shot on that man advantage. The Lightning killed off all three Islanders power plays, including a 5-on-3 in the second period.
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