Bolts by the Bay
Fansided

Lightning vs Islanders: First Intermission Report – Game 2

By James Yarcho

EDMONTON, ALBERTA - SEPTEMBER 09: The Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders scuffle during the first period at Rogers Place on September 09, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
EDMONTON, ALBERTA - SEPTEMBER 09: The Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders scuffle during the first period at Rogers Place on September 09, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

It was all Islanders in the first period. They came out on absolute fire, dictating the pace of play and refusing to allow the Lightning to get anything going offensively. It was 1:24 into the game where they broke the ice and opened the scoring.

Matt Martin was able to ricocet a shot off Tyler Johson’s stick and have it drop over Andrei Vasilevskiy’s shoulder. Nearly identical time to Brayden Point’s opening goal of game one.

The big story of the period, however, was the five minute major and game misconduct issued to Alex Killorn for his hit on Brock Nelson. There’s no question the hit was late and worthy of a penalty. Some are speculating it could warrant a suspension – similar to Ryan Reaves of the Vegas Golden Knights who was suspended for game one of the Western Conference Finals for an illegal hit to the head.

On the flip side, this hit wasn’t nearly as egregious as the one suffered by Yanni Gourde at the hands of Nick Ritchie in the second round – a hit that Ritchie was not suspended for. Either way, we won’t hear about that until Thursday.

The Lightning were able to orchestrate an incredible penalty kill of the five minute major but the loss of Killorn for the rest of the game could cause some issues for this Lightning team. Head coach Jon Cooper went with the eleven forward/seven defensemen alighnment that he likes but with Killorn out for the rest of game two, the Bolts are down to ten forwards against a very fast, very physical, and very motivated Islanders team.

Following an icing call late in the period, the Lightning won a face-off in their offensive zone and Victor Hedman was able to rocket one to the bottom corner and goal to tie things up at 1-1.

As I said in my preview, if the Lightning were able to withstant the early rush by the Isles, they stand a good chance of winning this game. They did just that, limiting the damage to just one goal – then were able to tie it on just their fourth shot on goal of the game.

Period two coming up soon!

Home/Lightning News