Top line's inability to match Lightning counterpart costly for Islanders
Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrates after scoring a goal past Semyon Varlamov of the Islanders as Mathew Barzal reacts during the third period in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals at Rogers Place on Sept. 13, 2020 in Edmonton. Credit: Getty Images/Bruce Bennett
The Islanders pride themselves on their four-lines-deep balance, and it is not just lip service. It has been a vital feature of their recent success.
But there are times when stars must shine, usually in deep playoff runs, and, well, that has become a dire problem for the Islanders in the Eastern Conference finals against the Lightning.
That is because Tampa Bay’s top line has won the production battle with its Islanders counterpart in a blowout, which has played a key role in the Lightning’s 3-1 series lead.
After the latest example, in a 4-1 loss in Game 4 on Sunday, coach Barry Trotz did not sugarcoat the issue.
When a reporter asked if the first-line production mismatch explains the state of the series or whether that is too simplistic, he said this:
"I think you’re pretty right on on that . . . Their first line has put a mark on us in a couple of games here."
And how.
On Sunday, the Lightning line of Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov accounted for both goals and every assist on Tampa Bay’s second and third scores, which broke a 1-1 tie.
That gave the trio a total of eight goals and 12 assists in the series, even with Point missing portions of Games 2 and 4 and all of Game 3 with an injury. Kucherov’s goal with 8.8 seconds left in Game 2 was a backbreaker.
The Islanders’ top line of Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle has six points in the series. Three came on the team’s first goal of the series, by Eberle on a power play in Game 1. In the past three games, they have been limited to one secondary assist by Barzal.
Asked in particular about the frustrations of Barzal and Eberle, Trotz said: "They’re getting a lot of attention and they’ve gotten some looks, but they haven’t found the back of the net enough for us, especially five-on-five . . . We’re going to have to get some production there.
"We’re best when we get production up and down our lineup. We will."
Lee, Barzal and Eberle have had numerous chances, so they cannot be accused of lack of effort. And the second line of Anthony Beauvillier, Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey has picked up some of the scoring slack.
But watching the Lightning stars have their way illustrates a frequent criticism of the Islanders’ roster: lack of elite scoring punch.
"They’re all good players; they’re outstanding players," Trotz said of the Lightning line. "They can make plays, they go to hard areas and their windows of execution. They’ve got some guys who can pull the trigger pretty quick.
"They’re high-level, elite players and you can’t give them an inch. And we’ve given them too many inches."
One play that annoyed Trotz came on the third Tampa Bay goal. Kucherov made a gorgeous play to set up Palat near the net, and he found Point in front.
Semyon Varlamov stopped his first shot, but Point put in the rebound while the backchecking Barzal drifted to Point’s outside and helplessly past the net.
"You’ve got to be on the right side of them," Trotz said. "Even their third goal, we go by the net and they get a second whack at it and it goes in the net.
"So you’ve got to stay in between them and your goal. It doesn’t matter who’s on the ice."
Palat had scored the go-ahead goal for Tampa Bay — 12 seconds after the Lightning had tied it at 1-1 — off a feed from Kucherov.
"They’re all great players, I think we all know that," Bailey said. "Obviously, off the rush, we can probably do a better job against them. They’re dangerous. They’re quick. So we have to find a way to limit those opportunities, and then in the d-zone, you try to find a way to be hard and take away those second opportunities.
"You can’t keep those guys away from getting a scoring chance throughout the game, but you’ve got to do a good job taking away those second and third ones."
The margin for error is gone. Game 5 is Tuesday.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
