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(Sports Network) - The Tampa Bay Lightning were able to bounce back from their only loss of the season the last time out and will try to post a second straight win when they host the New York Islanders tonight at St. Pete Times Forum.
The Lightning began the year with three straight wins before getting destroyed, 6-0, by Florida on Saturday. Tampa Bay was able to get back on track Monday night, defeating the visiting Dallas Stars by a 5-4 margin.
Dominic Moore led a lethal power play with two goals on the man advantage in the recent win over the Stars. Tampa ended 4-for-5 on the power play and improved to 8-for-24 (33 percent) on the season.
Steven Stamkos added a goal and two assists for the Lightning. Steve Downie scored once and also had an assist, while Sean Bergenheim tallied for the Lightning, who outshot the Stars, 44-19. Mike Smith needed to make just 15 saves to earn the win.
"Everybody was on the same page in tonight's game and it showed in the results," said Lightning defensemanPavel Kubina. "We outshot them and gave up very few shots against. The power play was good, the penalty killing was good, so that's the way we have to play."
The Lightning won Monday despite playing without captain Vincent Lecavalier, who suffered a bruised right hand after getting hit whit a shot in the loss to Florida. Lecavalier is questionable for tonight's game.
Tampa is 2-0 so far on home ice this year after posting a 21-14-6 record as the host in 2009-10.
The Islanders, meanwhile, enter tonight off the strength of consecutive victories and were able to hand theToronto Maple Leafs their first loss of the season in their last outing.
John Tavares' power-play goal with 1:34 left in overtime lifted New York to a 2-1 road victory at Air Canada Centre.
With Brett Lebda in the box serving an interference penalty, the Islanders quickly went to work in the offensive zone and tallied the game-winner. P.A. Parenteau got the puck back to the middle point to James Wisniewski, who passed to Tavares for a one-timer that beat Jean-Sebastien Giguere on the blocker side.
"They're a good skating hockey team like we are," Tavares said. "They had some good chances, but we did what we had to do."
Matt Moulson scored in regulation for the Islanders, who were coming off a 5-2 win over Colorado on Saturday. Tavares also added an assist. Dwayne Roloson was stellar between the pipes, stopping 29-of-30 shots, butRick DiPietro is expected to resume his starting role tonight.
Isles defenseman Radek Martinek is questionable for tonight with an illness, but forwards Josh Bailey andTrent Hunter are expected to miss the contest.
New York was just 11-23-7 as the guest in 2009-10 and is 1-1-1 on the road so far this season.
Tampa posted three wins in four meetings with the Isles last year, but New York has won seven of 12 overall in the series. The Islanders have not fared well at the Forum in recent years, losing three straight, four of five and eight of their last 10 games in Tampa.
Islanders Win In Overtime 3-2
Tampa, FL (Sports Network) – After a lengthy official review, Matt Moulson’s fluttering shot in overtime was ruled a goal, giving the New York Islanders a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Moulson hit the puck while surrounded by traffic near the right side of the ice, and it deflected off a stick into the air. Lightning goaltender Dan Ellis reached for the puck as it was crossing the goal line, managing to swipe it out with a backward motion.
That came 1:56 into overtime, but play was not stopped to review the play until there was 1:32 remaining. After about 10 minutes, the official announced that the puck completely crossed the goal line, giving the Islanders their third consecutive victory.
“We got some tips saying that guys thought it was in,” said Islanders defenseman Mark Eaton. “Obviously you can’t get too excited, you’ve got to wait for the official call. But when it came, obviously we were happy.”
P.A. Parenteau and Michael Grabner also scored for New York, while Rick DiPietro made 28 saves.
Sean Bergenheim and Martin St. Louis had the goals for Tampa Bay, which has lost two of three. Ellis stopped 22 shots in defeat.
“I don’t know how they saw it cleanly,” Ellis said of the review. “You take that long, you would think that usually it would go the other direction. Obviously they saw something that we haven’t yet, and you gotta move on.”
Grabner gave the Islanders the lead 2:15 into the game, but Bergenheim evened the contest late in the first period. After an Islanders shot was deflected, Bergenheim got the puck on a clear breakaway and beat Ellis low to the left side with 1:55 remaining.
Tampa Bay then went in front early in the middle period, after gaining possession off a turnover. St. Louis took a pass from Steven Stamkos on the right side of the ice just as he crossed into New York’s zone. St. Louis used a quick backhand move to get the puck around his defender as he cut to the center, then put a shot by DiPietro at 4:44.
But midway through the period, Parenteau netted his second goal of the season with the Islanders on the power play. DiPietro later made a big save on Bergenheim, who got another breakaway chance but wasn’t able to cash in.
With 7.4 seconds left in regulation, Lightning defenseman Pavel Kubina was whistled for tripping. While the Islanders weren’t able to take advantage of the 4-on-3 during overtime, they got the controversial game-winner shortly thereafter.
This was the first of four meetings between the teams this season. The Lightning won three of four in 2009-10…Islanders defenseman James Wisniewski had an assist, and has points in all five games he’s played this season.
Oct 22 8:50a by Joseph Fortunato - 0 comments