Recap: Lightning 7, Islanders 6

The New York Islanders found themselves in a big hole Thursday night and nearly climbed out of it in their 7-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Down 7-3 to start the third period, the Islanders rattled off three goals in a 3:01 span to put a scare into the Lightning. Ultimately, they couldn't find the tying goal, but they showed the resiliency Doug Weight wanted to see from his club.
"Coming out of the second intermission, all you want is some fight, some hunger," Weight said. "We battled in the third, it's not good enough, but it's great to see the way some of the guys stepped up."

Ryan Pulock, Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier all had two-goal games, while Jordan Eberle chipped in three assists. The play of those four, as well as a red-hot power play that went 3-for-5 and scored for a fourth straight game, were positive takeaways for Weight.

However, the Islanders gave up seven goals for the second time in a week and never led. Tampa Bay jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the 2:35 mark and were up 3-1 after the first period, with the first of Pulock's two power-play cannons getting the Islanders on the board.
Brayden Point's shorthanded goal made it 4-1 early in the second, but Pulock and Lee brought the Isles back to within one for the first time. The decisive stretch came later in the period, as Tampa scored three straight, with J.T. Miller netting a pair of goals, including the game-winner, while Mikhail Sergachev ended goaltender Chris Gibson's night at 6-3. Gibson finished the night with 18 saves on 24 shots, while Jaroslav Halak stopped 11-of-12 in relief.

The Islanders cut the four-goal deficit to one in a frantic three minutes.
"We kind of had a slow start and dug ourselves a hole, but there's a lot of character in the room," Pulock said. "No one wants to get embarrassed in here and we came out flying in the third and played a good period."
First, Lee shoveled in his second of the night for the Islanders' third power-play goal and his team-leading and career-high 38th strike of the season. Beauvillier followed it up with a quick pair, sliding a backhander five-hole on Vasilevskiy before tipping a Johnny Boychuk shot to make it 7-6.

"It's clear they have a ton of offense and a ton of fire power and our start set us behind," Lee said. "But we're a resilient group and you're going into the third period down four, you make it a game against a good team, that's what we're trying to do here. Just win hockey games obviously and no one gave up tonight."

POINTS FOR PULOCK:

With two goals, Ryan Pulock extended his career high point streak to five games (3G, 5A), giving the defenseman eight points over that span.
While the defenseman has elevated many areas of his game over the season, his lethal shot remains his best asset and it was on display Thursday night. Twice Pulock found the sweet spot on his 100 mph drive, beating Andrei Vasilevskiy - the NHL's wins leader at 42 - cleanly. With the two goals, Pulock tied Sergachev for the most goals among rookie defenseman with nine.

"I've had some good looks in the past where I just haven't been able to get the puck up off the ice and today I was able to get it up a bit and found some holes," Pulock said.
The defenseman nearly completed his first hat trick, but was denied on a third period breakaway by Vasilevskiy. And while Lee and Beauvillier were also carrying hot sticks, the Isles fed Pulock for the last shot of the night, a pounding one-timer that missed high.
"Pulie was the best player on the ice tonight," Weight said postgame.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night at Barclays Center - Jordan Eberle Mini Bobblehead Night. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.

POSTGAME VIDEO:

Video: TBL 7 vs NYI 6: Doug Weight