The Lightning started their four-game roadtrip off with a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
Oliver Bjorkstrand opened the scoring on a redirection from Darren Raddysh, giving him his 20th goal of the season. Tampa Bay now has seven players with 20 plus goals. Just two minutes later, Bo Horvat evened the scoring for the Islanders with a shorthanded goal on the rush. The Lightning have allowed 12 shorthanded goals this season.
Eight minutes into the second period, Jake Guentzel scored after being left alone in front of the net. Nikita Kucherov snuck in a highlight-worthy quick pass to set up the go-ahead goal.
Lightning captain Victor Hedman made it 3-1 almost three minutes later. Kucherov’s assist on Hedman’s goal brought him back into the top spot as the NHL points leader.
“I liked the way we competed. What I probably liked the most was the third period, we didn’t give up anything and spent a lot of time in their end,” said Hedman. “Down the stretch in the playoffs, that’s the kind of game we want to play. When you go up 3-1, you’ve got to be able to shut it down.”
“Defensively it's been really good. You give up two goals in three games and scoring at the pace that we do, it’s the recipe for success. For us, we have a high standard and I think, in most of these games, we have played to that standard”
Nick Paul scored the empty net goal with a little over three minutes left in the third.
“We worked really hard and started in the defensive zone. That’s a big thing right now, is working in the D-zone to create offense,” said Paul.
Andrei Vasilevskiy earned his 36th win of the regular season, behind Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets. The Lightning will face their Atlantic Division matchup in Ottawa on Thursday.
