Lightning Game Previews

New York Islanders at Tampa Bay Lightning preview: All it takes is one more win

It won’t be easy.

By LaurenKelly24@laurkelly24 Sep 15, 2020, 11:00am EDT

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Tampa Bay Lightning v New York Islanders - Game Four

New York Islanders at Tampa Bay Lightning: ROUND 3, GAME 5

Time: 8:00 pm Eastern Time

Location: Rogers Place

Broadcast/Streaming: NBC, SN, TVA-S, FuboTV

Opponent SBNation Site: Lighthouse Hockey

Preview:

The Tampa Bay Lightning are one win away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Final, but there is no way the New York Islanders will let them achieve that easily.

The Lightning’s top line overpowered the Islanders defense for much of Game 4, and it was their play that was instrumental in the comeback. The bad news was that Brayden Point was sidelined for most of the third period after appearing to re-aggravate an unknown injury. He will likely be back in the lineup tonight, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the Lightning sit him out just to get him some extra rest.

There isn’t much else to say here but that the Lightning can’t get complacent in Game 5. They can’t sit back and let the Islanders dominate, because the Isles proved on Brock Nelson’s goal in Game 4 that they can capitalize after extended offensive zone time.

The Islanders won’t have Casey Cizikas or Tom Kuhnhackl for the remainder of the playoffs, as both have left the bubble due to injuries. Cizikas is a huge loss for them, as he solidified a heavy fourth line for the Islanders. The Lightning took advantage of his absence in Game 4 and will need to repeat that again in Game 5.

With or without Point in the lineup tonight, the Lightning will need their best effort to win their toughest game of the playoffs so far. And if they do, they’ll meet the Dallas Stars in the final round for a chance to win the Stanley Cup.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Forwards

Ondrej Palat - Brayden Point - Nikita Kucherov

Alex Killorn - Anthony Cirelli - Tyler Johnson

Barclay Goodrow - Yanni Gourde - Blake Coleman

Cedric Paquette - Patrick Maroon

Alexander Volkov, Mathieu Joseph, Carter Verhaeghe, Mitchell Stephens

Injured: Steven Stamkos

Defense Pairs

Victor Hedman - Zach Bogosian

Ryan McDonagh - Erik Cernak

Mikhail Sergachev - Kevin Shattenkirk

Luke Schenn, Braydon Coburn

Injured: Jan Rutta

Goaltenders

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Curtis McElhinney