Islanders Beat Lightning 6-2 ELMONT, NY – The New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/game-day/casey-cizikas-new-york-islanders-tampa-bay-lightning-thursday] cruised to a huge victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 6-2. The Islanders played as you would expect against a team on the second half of a back-to-back pouncing on chances. Ilya Sorokin saved 16 of the 18 shots he faced, where Jonas Johansson struggled for Tampa Bay only saving 18 of the 24 shots against. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA0MjE1NzkwOTk4NjYwNzQ4/usatsi_22476402.jpg] The Islanders got off to a quick start as they drew a power play just 28 seconds into the game. They did not get score on the man advantage but did shortly after. At 4:07 Noah Dobson scored his seventh goal of the season. Pageau dropped the puck for Dobson, who threw it on net and got a favorable bounce into the net. Oliver Wahlstrom was standing in front and it originally looked like he scored the goal. The Lightning scored at 6:42, tying the game shortly after the Islanders went up 1-0. Nikita Kucherov took a shot from the point shortly after an offensive zone faceoff. Darren Raddysh and Brayden Point assisted. Mathew Barzal has scored in back-to-back games since his All-Star appearance in Toronto. He scored goal number 15 of the season at the 14:07 mark. Horvat made a tremendous to Barzal down low to get the assist, where Barzal shoveled the puck high past Johansson restoring the Islanders lead, making it 2-1. The Islanders added another before closing out the first period, with Mike Reilly doing a tremendous job jumping up on the play, circling around the net before finding Kyle Palmieri in front. Palmieri buried the puck with 1:28 to go in the period. Nelson received the secondary assist. New York exited the first 20 minutes with a 3-1 lead, leading the shot department 14-3 after a commanding first period. The Lightning started the second period on the power play and cashed in after Brandon Hagel buried a rebound 74 seconds into the frame. Anthony Cirelli and Victor Hedman assisted, cutting the Islanders lead to 3-2. A few minutes later the Islanders had a chance on the power play where they did not score until the final seconds of it. Ryan Pulock fired a slap shot from the point after the faceoff was won back to him. For Pulock, it is his first home game back since Dec. 7 after getting injured. Pierre Engvall assisted. Bo Horvat scored on a shot from the point just 1:08 after Pulock, giving the Islanders a 5-2 lead. Barzal and Pelech assisted. The Islanders weren’t done for the second period as Casey Cizikas scored in his first game back from injury. At 15:22 Cizikas stole the puck and slipped it past Johansson making it a four-goal lead for the Islanders and a 6-2 score. To end the second period the Lightning were held to only 10 shots total. The Islanders had 22 and six goals after forty minutes. The third period did not include much action as the Islanders tried to play conservative and shut down the defensive zone, which they did. A scoreless third gave the Islanders the 6-2 win. UP NEXT: The Islanders host the Calgary Flames Saturday at 1 PM ET. LINES: Anders Lee - Bo Horvat - Mathew Barzal Pierre Engvall - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri Simon Holmstrom - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Oliver Wahlstrom Matt Martin - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck Adam Pelech - Ryan Pulock Alexander Romanov - Noah Dobson Mike Reilly - Scott Mayfield Ilya Sorokin Semyon Varlamov
