NEW YORK -- The resiliency of the Tampa Bay Lightning was on display during a 5-4 overtime victory over the New York Islanders in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference second-round series Tuesday night at Barclays Center. The Lightning take a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven series with Game 4 here on Friday.
How it happened: The Lightning’s Brian Boyle scored on a rebound 2:48 into overtime en route to victory. Tampa’s comeback started in the waning seconds of regulation. With goalie Ben Bishop on the bench for the extra attacker, the Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov scored with 38.4 remaining to tie the game at 4. It was Kucherov’s seventh goal of the postseason. It also helped the Lightning that forward Jonathan Drouin returned to the game late in the third period after he missed the majority of the second period following a massive body check by the Islanders’ Thomas Hickey. Drouin set up Kucherov’s game-tying goal. For the Islanders, Josh Bailey returned to the lineup for the first time in this series and scored two goals.
What it means: The Lightning guaranteed themselves at least a split on the road with the win in Game 3. Tampa Bay entered Game 3 having lost seven of its past eight road games against the Islanders. Tampa Bay gained control of this series with the emotional victory. Home ice is a big factor for New York as the Islanders posted a 25-11-5 record at Barclays Center during the regular season. New York is 2-2 on home ice in the postseason. For the Islanders to tie this series in Game 4, they will need more performances like they had in Game 3.
