Tampa Bay Lightning center Brian Boyle brings home the game-winning goal for the Lightning in overtime of Game 3 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been on a heck of a rollercoaster ride since embarking on their postseason journey last month. After a fairly heated series between the Lightning and the Detroit Red Wings, the Lightning would move on to the next round where they would face the New York Islanders, a team in which the Bolts had no previous rivalry with to speak of.
Surprisingly enough, as the series continues on things continue to heat up between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Islanders. This has made for some pretty exciting and heart-pounding hockey. Some of this aforementioned heat and heart-pounding play came to a boil on Tuesday night from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in Game 3 of the series.
The Tampa Bay Lightning struggled to keep the New York Islanders out of the zone for a good portion of the first two periods of play. Every time the Lightning would push back, the Islanders would push back that much harder and somehow regain the lead on the Lightning. Some of this would be from defensive miscues, and some of it would come from ill-timed penalties, but in any case, it was definitely not good for the Lightning.
With just 39 seconds left in the third period, the Tampa Bay Lightning were able to come together and battle back against the Islanders with a goal from Nikita Kucherov to send the game to overtime. Adding to the elation of the moment for Lightning fans, the player who handed the pass to Kucherov was rookie forward Jonathan Drouin, who has just returned to the ice after taking a nasty hit to the head.
If the Tampa Bay Lightning had any hopes of bringing home a victory from deep inside enemy territory, they were going to have to come out of the tunnel with the same fire in their souls that carried them to the Stanley Cup Finals last season. They would need to keep the pressure on the Islanders and make them work for every save they would make. This is exactly what the Lightning was able to accomplish.
Lightning fans around the Bolts Nation had just settled in for another 20-minute period of fast-paced, hard-hitting hockey when the most amazing thing happened. Just 2:48 seconds into the overtime period, the Tampa Bay Lightning would jab the puck past New York Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss and into the net to bring home the victory for the Bolts in overtime.
Here’s a look at how things played out. The Islanders would attempt to play the puck through the neutral zone and back into their offensive zone. Tampa Bay Lightning center Brian Boyle would lay a hard (and legal) hit on Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey. Boyle gets control of the puck and makes his way into the Islanders zone.
Unfortunately, Boyle was under pressure and had to drop the puck through Lightning alternate captain Ryan Callahan and to the stick of Bolts defenseman Victor Hedman. Hedman would take a shot at the net, which was quickly turned away. Thankfully, Brian Boyle was at the exact right place at the exact right time and was able to drill the puck past Greiss and into the back of the net for the Lightning victory.
The New York Islanders and more specifically Head Coach Jack Capuano have voiced their concerns over the legitimacy of Boyle’s hit on Thomas Hickey. Of course, the same thing could be said by the Tampa Bay Lightning and their fans over Hickey’s head shot on Jonathan Drouin in the second period, but both cases were shut down by the NHL Department of Player Safety today when no hearings were scheduled for either player.
The good news for the Tampa Bay Lightning is their Game 3 victory not only gives them a 2-1 series lead over the Islanders, but it also allows them to keep momentum on their side as they head back into the Barclays Center on Friday night for Game 4 and are forced to face a very unforgiving New York crowd.
The Tampa Bay Lightning need to be prepared to play a very physical game on Friday night. The New York Islanders have used their size and physical play in an attempt to intimidate a Lightning team who is much better known for their speed game than their offensive toughness.
Next: Lightning/Islanders Get Heated In Pre-Game Warmups (Video)
If the Lightning want the opportunity to finish off the series when they make their way back to the Amalie Arena for Game 5, they are going to have to leave everything out on the ice. If the Bolts can find a way to play more like they did in Game 2 (and the latter half of the third period of Game 3), the Lightning will find themselves in a pretty good place.