Brock Nelson's go-ahead goal in third lifts Islanders past Lightning in Game 3
It was almost a different kind of heartbreak for the Islanders. Instead, they are back in the Eastern Conference finals against the Lightning.
“This is a special group with resiliency,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “It says a lot for this group to be able to mentally park it and focus on the moment.”
They could not hold a two-goal lead in the third period but responded with two goals after the Lightning tied it, winning Friday night’s Game 3, 5-3, at Rogers Place in Edmonton to pull within 2-1 in the series.
This after the Islanders lost Wednesday night’s well-played Game 2, 2-1, on Nikita Kucherov’s goal with 8.8 seconds left in regulation.
The Islanders will look to even the series in Sunday afternoon’s Game 4.
“I don’t think it was too much frustration,” said Brock Nelson, who scored the winner from the right circle at 16:35 of the third period off Anthony Beauvillier’s feed after Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh turned the puck over in his zone. “It’s disappointing when you have a lead going into the third with a chance to get back into the series and you give it up. We stayed the course. We got right back in it.”
Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s empty-netter clinched it at 19:24 as he was slashed by Kucherov. Pageau went after Kucherov after the whistle, Matt Martin fought Barclay Goodrow and Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev said after the game that the teams do not like each other.
“I don’t think it’s anything personal,” said Pageau, acquired from the Senators on Feb. 24. “In the conference finals, you’ve got to expect both teams to go as hard as they can and try to play for each other. One thing about our group, everyone is stepping up for each other. It’s a brotherhood for the Islanders. You saw that tonight. Everyone was stepping up for each other and playing to the end for each other.”
Both teams played shorthanded, with the Islanders missing Casey Cizikas (undisclosed) and the Lightning without two of their top-six forwards in injured Brayden Point and suspended Alex Killorn.
Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves for the Islanders and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 31 shots for the Lightning.
The Lightning cut the Islanders’ lead to 3-2 on Ondrej Palat’s power-play redirection of Kucherov’s feed from the right circle at 2:32 of the third period. Trying to protect a two-goal lead, Jordan Eberle erred in taking an offensive-zone holding penalty against defenseman Erik Cernak.
Tyler Johnson then deflected Cernak’s shot from the right point to tie the score at 3-3 at 12:04. The goal witood a review to see if Johnson’s stick was high.
“I didn’t like that we took the early penalty. That gave Tampa Bay some momentum,” Trotz said. “Then they tie it up on a tip. We sort of got our composure back.”
“It’s tough giving up two goals in the third there, but we responded really well,” said defenseman Adam Pelech, who scored his first career playoff goal on a shot from the left circle to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 11:50 of the second period. “We stayed on top of them. We were aggressive and Beau and Nellie were huge for us getting that fourth one.”
Nelson, going behind the crease, set up an open Beauvillier at the net to make it 3-1 at 13:50 of the second period with the teams skating four-on-four.
Cal Clutterbuck opened the scoring at 12:58 of the first period as Vasilevskiy unsuccessfully tried to get a stoppage in play because his goalie pad had come loose. Sergachev tied it at 1-1 at 16:31, slipping past Clutterbuck for a backhander off Yanni Gourde’s feed.
The Islanders recovered from a slow start in the first period to take the lead. They recovered in the third period to close out the game. They recovered from a potentially devastating Game 2 loss to make this a series.
“All you have to do is look at the situation and the amount of time we’ve put into this entire process,” Clutterbuck said. “I just think the way the guys are, we’ve come too far. Packing it in is just not a thought.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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