Recap: Lightning 6, Islanders 2

The New York Islanders fought back from an early deficit on Tuesday night, but couldn't rally from a late one, falling 6-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena.
Down 2-0 after the first period, the Islanders wrestled their way back into a 2-2 tie, but three Lightning goals - including a pair of power-play markers - in the final four minutes of the second period proved to be the difference.

"We had the whole ice tilted and had taken the game over and reversed the whole script," Head Coach Doug Weight said. "Two penalties late and it's 4-2, then 5-2 and the game was virtually done. It's disappointing, but we have to march on."
The Lightning stormed the Islanders in the first period, outshooting the Isles 11-2 and out attempting them 28-3 in the opening 20 minutes. Tampa's dominant first period was bookended by goals from Brayden Point 34 seconds into the period and Andrej Sustr at 17:47.
"We weren't ready to play," Jordan Eberle said. "We woke up in the second and started to play. We played really well for 15, 16 minutes and found a way to climb back into it."

The Isles came out with a purpose in the second period, outshooting the Lightning 9-0 and tying the score by the midway point of the frame. Mathew Barzal played an integral part in both goals, as the rookie slipped down the right side and beat Andrei Vasilevskiy with his deceptive backhander - his second nifty backhand in as many nights - for a power-play goal at 7:07.
Less than two minutes later, Barzal carried the puck across the Lightning zone before dishing across the ice to Jordan Eberle, who slammed home his 11th of the season.
The Islanders appeared to be in control of the game at the time of Eberle's tying goal, but Tampa took it back with three goals in a 2:24 span to open up a 5-2 lead. Yanni Gourde deposited a rebound off the end wall for the first of his two goals at 16:22 and scored his second shortly after a missed two-on-one from Eberle and Barzal that would have tied the game. Like his first goal, Gourde knocked in a rebound, this time after a good first save by Thomas Greiss on Slater Koekkoek at 17:56.

"A team like that, they have a lot of firepower over there," Eberle said. "You make one mistake or miss a coverage or mess with penalties, they're going to find a way to capitalize and they did."
Vladislav Namestnikov's power-play goal made it 5-2 at 18:46 and had the Isles in a three-goal hole heading into the final period, while Chris Kunitz rounded out the scoring six minutes into the third period.
Greiss finished the night with 28 saves, while Vasilevskiy made 29 in the win.
The loss dropped the Islanders to 1-1-0 on their current four-game road trip, which continues on Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"It's going to be a good test," Barzal said. "It'll be a character check coming off a tough loss in Tampa tonight."