Measuring stick homestand concludes tonight vs. Islanders

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper called his team's current three-game homestand a "measuring stick" of sorts to see who the Bolts were and where they needed to go to get better.
All three teams the Lightning have faced or will face during the homestand are opponents the Lightning defeated in the playoffs last season to reach the Stanley Cup Final for a second-consecutive year. Cooper said he wasn't so much worried about wins or losses over the three games. It was more about how his team played in them. Were they sticking to their system and structure? Were they committed defensively? Are they doing the things necessary for the Lightning to be successful?

So far, they've largely liked the results, getting three of a possible four points going into tonight's homestand finale against the New York Islanders (7 p.m. puck drop) and playing a style of hockey reminiscent of their back-to-back postseason runs that garnered two-straight Stanley Cups.

Tonight, they'll face another test against an Islanders team that was arguably their most difficult opponent in each of those postseason runs. New York took the Lightning to a game seven last postseason in the Stanley Cup Semifinal - the only Game 7 they played in back-to-back Cup runs -- before the Bolts prevailed on home ice courtesy of Yanni Gourde's shorthanded goal early in the second period.
"The one thing about the Islanders, we've had two incredibly tough series with them the last two years," Cooper said. "Their team is relatively the same. Ours has kind of changed a little bit. The basic core is there. We know each other inside and out. Kind of weird for a team that's not been in our division, but familiar coaches. (Barry Trotz) and I have been playoff foes three of the last four years. That's probably why I took him on the Canadian Olympic staff, got to have these guys join you instead of keep fighting him. They're great games to play because you know you're playing an elite team that plays with structure. It's a test for you. I know getting through them in the playoffs was a grind, and I'm sure it's going to be no different tonight."
The Islanders are wrapping up an extremely difficult opening month of the season where they've played 11-straight games on the road while the finishing touches are being made to the brand-new UBS Arena. When they complete a back-to-back tonight in Tampa and Tuesday against the Panthers in Sunrise, the Islanders will have started the season with 13 in a row on the road before they open their new arena Saturday versus Calgary.
The fact they've accumulated more points (12) than games (11) so far on the difficult journey shows just how tough this Islanders team is, even if their spot in the Metropolitan Division standings - eighth out of eight teams - suggests otherwise.
"When I look at those Vegas odds at the beginning of the year, it doesn't seem like they get any respect in terms of Cup-winning teams," Lightning forward Alex Killorn said. "When I think about teams that win Cups and teams that defend and teams that have a lot of depth, I think about the Islanders. It's going to be a good one tonight."
The Lightning enter the matchup against the Isles on a seven-game point streak, having gone 5-0-2 since starting their current run with a 5-1 victory in Pittsburgh October 26. Not coincidentally, Tampa Bay has also allowed two or fewer goals in six of the last seven games. And the game where they gave up more than two, a 5-3 win in Ottawa Nov. 6, the Senators scored a meaningless goal in the closing seconds with the outcome having already been decided.
Since October 26, the Lightning lead the NHL for fewest goals against per game played at 1.86. That commitment to their own end, more than anything, is what has accounted for their recent success.
Well, that, and having the best goalie in the world in Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes.

"We're doing a pretty good job taking away middle ice, especially in our defensive zone," Cooper said, explaining his team's recent defensive success. "Again, you've got to tip your hat to Vasy. He's made some key saves at some big times. But you need that in your goalie. I think anytime you're giving up two or less a game, you're getting saves from your goaltender. If we're going to have success, that's what we need to do. That's got to be our blueprint. Two or less, I'll take our chances getting some points. The guys are committed to defending, and, again, you insulate the front of your net, usually good things will happen. That's what we've done of late, and hopefully we can keep it going."
Killorn said the Islanders are a team you almost have to out-defend because they defend so well. Not getting careless or impatient is key to defeating them.
It'll be another measuring stick-type game for the Lightning, who have played a lot of them of late.
"I think it's difficult to get to a point where you're playing that way," Killorn said of his team's defensive prowess. "And it's typically a progression that happens throughout the season. You want to be playing that way in the playoffs. It's like any other team, at the start of the season the PK's typically not as good, defensive zone isn't as good and as the season goes on, you tend to see the scores go down and the goals per game go down. To get it in early is always an advantage."