Another game, and another frustrating loss for the Lightning.
The contest was 0-0 with under 10 minutes left in the third period when, after a review, officials called a four-minute high-sticking double minor on Brandon Hagel. As the Lightning were almost through the first of those two kills, Jake Guentzel skated into the offensive zone, angled towards the slot, and was slashed in the glove. No penalty was called on the play.
As a result, the Islanders stayed on the second half of the four-minute power play and scored the eventual game-winning goal. After the Lightning broke a stick, they were down a man and a stick. A shot wide of the net deflected off the end boards, and Cal Ritchie scooped the puck off Jonas Johansson and into the net at 12:46.
It wasn’t quite the same as Thursday’s game involving a disallowed goal in the final minute, but once again, officials were involved in plays that helped determine the outcome. Frustrating.
As they’ve done in each of the last three games, the Lightning played well enough to get points but didn’t. They defended hard, limited chances, and brought high compete. The Islanders, as they did in Tuesday’s meeting in New York, also defended tightly. Both goalies had strong outings too.
So it was a close game that could have gone either way. At the very least, it could have gone to overtime, and the Lightning might have earned a point. But it was not to be.
The Lightning were without Nikita Kucherov (day-to-day). But Victor Hedman returned to the lineup after missing 12 games. Hedman was paired with Max Crozier, who came back from injury on Thursday after missing eight games. They played very well as a duo.
The Lightning hit the road for four straight. They’ll look to snap the three-game skid on Monday in Toronto.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Ilya Sorokin — Islanders. 32-save shutout.
- Emil Lilleberg — Lightning.
- Max Crozier — Lightning.
