Islanders carry pain of Game 7 loss to Lightning in return to Tampa

TAMPA --The pain of falling two goals short of the Stanley Cup Final last season still lingers for the New York Islanders, and they'll get another reminder of how close they were when they walk into Amalie Arena to play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday (7 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS, BSSUN, MSG+, ESPN+, NHL LIVE).

This is where the season ended, a 1-0 loss in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals on June 25, with center Yanni Gourde scoring the only goal during a New York power play in the second period. The Islanders have not scored in their past two trips here; they lost 8-0 in Game 5 and were held to 18 shots on goal in their season finale.
It was the second straight season they were eliminated in the third round by the Lightning, who went on to win the Cup each time. Tampa Bay defeated New York in the 2020 Eastern Conference Final in six games.
"I don't think you want to forget," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "You get only so many kicks at the can. I don't think you want to forget those things. You never want to forget the great moments in your life, and you don't want to forget the tough ones because the tough ones are the ones that get you to have more good ones. I don't want us to forget that.
"That'll stick with me for a long time. You give up a shorthanded goal in Game 7, and it took our opportunity away from going on to maybe playing for the Stanley Cup. You're in this business, that's pretty powerful I think, because you don't get too many opportunities."
Trotz would know; this is his 23rd season as an NHL coach, and he's made one trip to the Cup Final, when he won it all with the Washington Capitals in 2018. That was also his only trip to the third round before getting there with the Islanders the past two seasons.
Mathew Barzal took the Game 7 loss especially hard. New York's top center had just turned 24 a month prior, but he knew some of the older players potentially saw their last opportunity slip away, including 36-year-old forward Travis Zajac, who was acquired from the New Jersey Devils on April 7 and played 14 games during the playoff run. Zajac announced his retirement Sept. 20.
Fighting back tears, Barzal felt for others too, guys like forward Josh Bailey, the longest-tenured Islander now in his 14th season, and 39-year-old defenseman Andy Greene, who will play his 1,000th NHL game Monday.
"I've got a few more years, but you want to win for those guys," Barzal said after the loss, struggling to get through the sentence. "It hurts seeing those guys in the locker room afterwards with how close we were."
Especially considering how the Islanders got there, by rallying for a 3-2 overtime win in Game 6 in what ultimately turned out to be their final game at Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders will play the Lightning and Florida Panthers back to back Monday and Tuesday, then open UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, against the Calgary Flames on Saturday.
Anthony Beauvillier scored the last goal at the Coliseum on June 23 at 1:08 of overtime. The Islanders would make one more trip to Tampa with a chance to not only avenge the 8-0 loss in Game 5, but also attempt to reach the Cup Final for the first time since 1984.
"To win Game 6 at home at the Coliseum, it was just an incredible moment, especially being a part of that group with the Coliseum in its last season," Zajac said in a telephone interview with NHL.com. "It was a great atmosphere after that win. Going to Tampa, it's a one-game, take-all kind of game. Going in, we had some confidence. I think we played well in the series, Tampa's played well. You just knew going in it was going to be a game where there wasn't going to be much room, there wasn't going to be many chances. It was just going to be a tight-checking game like the whole series was.
"We fell a goal short, but going into that game we knew that if we won that game we had a really good chance at winning the whole thing."
Zajac, who lost with the Devils to the Los Angeles Kings in the 2012 Stanley Cup Final, said the offseason provides time to digest. But the memories of June 25 are still all but a guarantee to come flooding back.
"You want to be that team, you want to prove that you're as good as them, if not better than them, so I'm sure there will be some mixed emotions and things like that," Zajac said. "But knowing [Islanders general manager] Lou [Lamoriello] and 'Trotzy,' they'll have the team ready to go and ready to compete in that game for sure.
" … I'm very fortunate I had that opportunity. It was a great run. Unfortunately we fell short, but nonetheless it was a good experience."
The ongoing construction of UBS Arena led to the Islanders starting this season with 13 consecutive road games. They are 5-4-2 thus far, still trying to look like the team that marched to the third round of the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. A win Monday won't take away the pain from June 25, but it certainly could provide the springboard they're looking for if they hope to be back in the third round -- and beyond -- this spring.
"It's one of those things you don't just turn the page and forget," Bailey said. "That being said, I think you try and use it as a motivator to get yourself back into a position like that and keep you hungry."