Barzal gave the Islanders the lead at 12:32 of the second period, outracing Jan Rutta on a rush and slipping a shot through Andrei Vasilevskiy's five-hole. New York took advantage of the long change in the second period, with Barzal hopping off the bench and grabbing Josh Bailey's stretch pass at the far blue line with a step on Rutta.
The Isles got an insurance marker from Pulock just over five minutes into the third that made it 2-0. Tampa Bay tried to clear the puck along the wall, but Pulock held the play in the zone, worked his way to the middle of the ice and fired a slap shot that Vasilevskiy couldn't stop.
Tampa Bay tried to rally late in the third with the extra attacker on the ice, as Brayden Point cut the deficit to one in the final minute of regulation. In tight, Point managed to lift his shot over Varlamov's shoulder to keep the Bolts alive late in the game.
The goal came with only 53 seconds to play, leaving the Lightning a small chance to pull off the rally. The Bolts got Vasilevskiy to the bench again and were set up with less than 20 seconds to play, but the Islanders managed hold onto the lead in the closing moments.
Varlamov was strong all evening, finishing the game with 30 saves. New York also played solid defense in front of their goaltender, keeping the Lightning out of high-scoring areas and limiting their chances on odd man rushes.
The Lightning will aim to rebound from their first series deficit of the postseason when the teams return to Amalie Arena on Tuesday night for Game 2.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
NYI | 12:32 Mathew Barzal (4) - Josh Bailey
3rd Period
NYI | 5:36 Ryan Pulock (4) - Jordan Eberle
TBL | 19:07 Brayden Point (9) - Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov - PPG
