Islanders' dream of a Stanley Cup again ends at hands of Lightning with Game 7 loss
Mathew Barzal #13, Ryan Pulock #6 and Matt Martin #17 of the Islanders react after their team's 1-0 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game7 of the NHL Stanley Cup semifinals at Amalie Arena on June 25, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. Credit: Getty Images/Bruce Bennett
TAMPA, Fla. — Mathew Barzal’s raw emotions, reddened eyes and choked-back words spoke for all of his Islanders teammates. This one hurt.
Falling one win short of the franchise’s first berth in the Stanley Cup Final in 37 years — by one goal — and again falling in the NHL semifinals to the defending Cup champion Lightning will always hurt.
"It stinks," Barzal said, his voice cracking, after the Islanders’ 1-0 loss to the Lightning on Yanni Gourde’s shorthanded goal early in the second period of Game 7 on Friday night at Amalie Arena.
"Getting back to this point and coming up short again. Guys like Bails [Josh Bailey] and Greener [Andy Greene], veteran guys. I’ve got a few more years, but you want to win for those guys. It hurts seeing those guys in the locker room afterwards."
The Lightning will face the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final starting Monday. They continually thwarted the Islanders’ passing attempts and blocked 21 shots. Despite only 18 shots on Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Islanders outchanced the Lightning 50-47. Semyon Varlamov, the Islanders’ best player, made 30 saves.
"It stings to lose," said Bailey, his voice also raw with emotion. "I’m proud to be part of this team. It hurts. It takes so much commitment and effort to get to this point, everyone on board, and we had that. It’s tough."
The Lightning eliminated the Islanders in six games in last season’s Eastern Conference finals. This year, the Islanders rallied to force Game 7 against the Lightning with a 3-2 overtime win on Wednesday night at a crazed Nassau Coliseum. That will stand as the final NHL playoff contest at the venerable barn, with UBS Arena at Belmont Park targeted to open in November.
"It’s a lot of pain for this group," coach Barry Trotz said. "I said to them, ‘This group is special.’ Their character, their work ethic, their will, their commitment. To me, it’s undeniable. This group believed that we could do this. They still believe we could. It’s just a lot of pain, because they gave their all.
"The disappointing thing is we didn’t get this game and that group in that room won’t be together again. That’s just the lay of the land in the NHL. That’s all the pain."
The Lightning had Nikita Kucherov in the lineup after the top-line right wing exited Game 6 following his first shift; his status for Game 7 was in doubt right up to warmups. He certainly didn’t seem 100%, and linemate Brayden Point had his goal streak snapped at nine games, one short of tying the NHL playoff record.
The Lightning have won seven straight playoff series and are 13-0 in that stretch in games following a loss. This was the first time in those seven series that they were stretched to the full seven games.
The Lightning are that good, better than last season, Trotz said. And the Islanders played them nearly even. Five of the games were decided by one goal and one was decided by two.
"Being down one goal going into the third period of Game 7 of the conference final, we’ll take that," Barzal said. "It’s not our time. Right there, hopefully we’ll be here next year."
The Islanders’ last trip to the Cup Final came in 1984 after winning four straight Cups from 1980-83.
Gourde’s shorthander came at 1:49 of the second period after Barclay Goodrow was whistled for cross-checking defenseman Adam Pelech in the offensive zone, the game’s lone penalty. Bailey, Nick Leddy and Brock Nelson all went to defend Anthony Cirelli along the right wall in the Islanders’ zone, leaving Gourde open in the slot to beat Varlamov past his glove.
"Back-to-back, being one of the last four teams, I don’t think that’s a fluke," Scott Mayfield said. "We believe in ourselves. We’re a confident group. It stings right now, but it is what it is."
Training camp opens in September.
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.
