The Bolts got off to a deceptive start, outshooting the Islanders 17-4 at one point early in the second period, but still gifting some solid scoring chances. In a scoreless opening period, New York hit a pair of posts and had a shorthanded breakaway attempt that was stopped by Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Beginning with Josh Bailey's goal at 5:30 of the second period, however, the disparity in quality of play began to come through as the Islanders completely flipped the script and dominated the middle frame.
On the game-opening goal, Brock Nelson pulled up at the left circle and fed Bailey on the opposite side of the ice for a shot that eluded Andrei Vasilevskiy through some traffic in front.
Mathew Barzal doubled New York's lead eight minutes later, cleaning up a juicy rebound in the crease. Cal Clutterbuck's point shot deflected off Kyle Palmieri in front before being stopped by Vasilevskiy, but Barzal was wide open to the left of the net and got to the rebound before the Bolts could react.
Matt Martin followed with a goal with just over two minutes to play in the period. Tampa Bay had several chances to clear the puck out of their zone, but the Isles managed to hold the play in, and Martin swept home a rebound chance to make it 3-0.
Tampa Bay looked like a brand-new team in the third, scoring two quick goals to cut New York's lead to 3-2 less than seven minutes in.
At 3:45 of the period, Brayden Point rang a shot in off the far post on the rush to get the Bolts on the board. Tyler Johnson followed less than three minutes later with his second goal of the postseason that made it 3-2 with plenty of time remaining for a comeback.
The game appeared to be over when Victor Hedman was called for a trip on Cal Clutterbuck with less than two minutes to play, but Tampa Bay managed to get Vasilevskiy to the bench for a fifth skater in the closing moments and created a tantalizingly good scoring chance. A puck came free for Ryan McDonagh at the left circle and his spin move got around Nelson and pulled Varlamov way out of his crease. With a wide open net to shoot at, McDonagh's backhander looked destined to score, but Pulock made the play of the game, diving into the crease to sweep the puck aside before it could cross the line.
With the loss, Tampa Bay has to settle for a split of the two games on Long Island and will return to Amalie Arena for Game 5 on Monday night at 8 p.m.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
NYI | 5:30 Josh Bailey (6) - Brock Nelson, Anthony Beauvillier
NYI | 13:46 Mathew Barzal (6) - Kyle Palmieri, Cal Clutterbuck - PPG
NYI | 17:57 Matt Martin (1) - Cal Clutterbuck, Adam Pelech
3rd Period
TBL | 3:45 Brayden Point (12) - Ondrej Palat, Erik Cernak
TBL | 6:43 Tyler Johnson (2) - Nikita Kucherov
