Komarov, Barzal, Eberle Line Gives Isles A Chance in Gm. 6

'The message all day was to give ourselves a chance.'
With their season on the line and having gone down 2-0 in the second period, the New York Islanders rose to the challenge. In doing so, they
completed the Game 6 comeback
with a 3-2 overtime victory and forced a decisive Game 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in their semifinal series.
With their backs against the wall and the game on the verge of slipping away, the Leo Komarov, Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle line willed the Islanders with a clutch chance to claw their way back in the game. Eberle delivered the Islanders a second-period spark, while Barzal was a catalyst for his linemate's tally before setting Scott Mayfield up for the game-tying goal in the third period.

It was a solid effort for the dynamic trio, who combined for three points (1G, 2A), a plus-three rating, seven shots and three hits. Eberle was creative, getting threatening looks on net - with a game-high five shots - while Barzal showcased his playmaking and Komarov displayed a hard-nosed, gritty game.
"All series, we've been alright and creating chances," Barzal said. "We were on for the first [Tampa] goal. As a line, we wanted to get it back. That first goal by [Eberle] is so big. Giving us a chance. Leo was doing his thing tonight, making plays, winning faceoffs."
After failing to convert, despite producing some opportunistic looks on a 5-on-3 power play in the second period, the Islanders found themselves in a disconcerting position courtesy of Anthony Cirelli. Shortly after the Islanders' unsuccessful power play, the Tampa centerman snatched a stretch pass from Ondrej Palat for a breakaway, where he beat Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov five-hole to double Tampa's lead 2-0 at 12:36.

The Islanders didn't allow themselves to get deflated. Instead, they tried to generate a response.
"We had some good looks on the 5-on-3 and couldn't get one," Eberle said. "Then, obviously, they make it 2-0. You just try to find one."
And 1:46 later, they did.
Following Cirelli's tally, Barzal immediately pushed the pace, as the dynamic centerman blitzed his path up ice transporting the puck from the Islanders zone and into Tampa's end. As he entered, both Bolts forward Alex Killorn and defenseman Ryan McDonagh closed on him, so Barzal dropped his pass back to Eberle. From atop the left circle, Eberle darted to the high slot and snapped his signature backhand past Andrei Vasilevskiy's blocker to make it a one-goal game.
"We needed it," Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz said of Eberle's goal. "The first period, I felt pretty good. They ended up scoring, but I felt good. The way we were playing, I felt that we were going to be fine. They made it 2-0. Then, the game teeters a little bit, if they make it 3-0 it gets pretty daunting. But that was a big goal for us. We're back to square one as we were down a goal after the first period."
The Islanders responsive icebreaker not only zapped any momentum Tampa had obtained following Cirelli's breakaway, but ushered a noticeable jolt that revved up the Islanders for the remainder of the period.
While the Bolts were fortunate enough to survive the Islanders commanding push after Eberle's tally at 14:22 in the frame, the Islanders didn't let up. They stormed out to take the third, with Barzal taking the lead.
In the opening minutes of the third period, Barzal was electric, skating and pelting the Bolts with chance-after-chance and his linemates followed suit.
"I thought that was Mat's best game of the series," Trotz said. "He was using his skill set, he was making good decisions and he was playing all 200-feet of the ice, which is big. He was a factor."

The thrilling pressure finally broke as Barzal set up Mayfield for the equalizer. Barzal was scissoring throughout the zone and collected his own rebound down low. As he recirculated the zone like a spin cycle, he threaded a pass out to Mayfield. As Mayfield charged down the ice from the blueline he grabbed the puck and lofted it just under the crossbar to tie the score 2-2 with 9:44 left in regulation.
Anthony Beauvillier eventually won the game 1:08 into overtime, sending the Coliseum into a frenzy. With the full-team win in Game 6 on Wednesday, the Islanders earned themselves at least one more chance to keep their season alive. This semifinal series is going the distance with Game 7 on Friday down in Tampa.
For the Islanders, just as they did in Game 6, they'll take it one period, one goal and one shift at a time. And sometimes all it takes is one chance to get it going.
"It was just a good game by our line, but more importantly by our team," Barzal said. "Just a huge win."