3 Keys: Islanders vs. Lightning, Game 2 of Eastern Conference Final

No. 6 Islanders vs. No. 2 Lightning
8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS
Tampa Bay leads best-of-7 series, 1-0

The New York Islanders will try to even the Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 2 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Wednesday.
Goalie Thomas Greiss could make his third straight start for New York. He played 10:46 and allowed three goals on nine shots in an 8-2 loss in Game 1 on Monday in Edmonton, the hub city for the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final. Semyon Varlamov, who has started 14 of 17 games for New York this postseason, allowed five goals on 25 shots.
Tampa Bay forwards Brayden Point (two goals, three assists) and Nikita Kucherov (one goal, four assists) each scored five points in Game 1. Point has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) during a seven-game point streak.
Teams with a 2-0 lead are 329-51 (86.6 percent) winning a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series, including 5-0 in the first two rounds this season.
Here are 3 keys for Game 2:

1. Islanders must respond

Pride will be a big factor for New York after it allowed eight goals in a postseason game for the first time since an 8-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 2 of the 1980 Stanley Cup Final, which the Islanders won in six games.
"It's just about getting out there and kind of having like a really good start for us is going to be key," forward Anthony Beauvillier said. "Make sure we find our game right away. Just play the Islander way. I think we've just got to wash that last game and just kind of move forward with it. We were all positive yesterday and we know we can do better. Just a little bit of a mistake down the road and we've got to be better tonight, and I'm sure we will."

2. Keep the foot on the gas

The Lightning were relentless in Game 1, continuing to win puck battles even when it was a foregone conclusion they were going to take a 1-0 series lead. That attitude could be more beneficial in Game 2 with a better effort expected from the Islanders.
"Every coach will come up here and say, 'Oh, we've got to be prepared. We've got to be ready. We've got to start on time,' all those cliches," coach Jon Cooper said. "But let's talk reality here: They got stung on the scoreboard a little bit, and I think a big part of this game will be that first five minutes. I think both teams will flex their muscles. We've just got to be ready for what they're going to bring at us.
"But if you've been watching these playoffs, there's so many momentum swings in every series, and we've just got to make sure we understand that I don't think the Islanders are going to come into Game 2 and lay an egg."

3. Stay out of the box

The Islanders penalty kill was perfect in the second round against the Flyers (13-for-13), but the Lightning were 3-for-6 on the power play in Game 1, scoring a goal with the man-advantage in each period. New York will need to be more disciplined in Game 2 if it hopes to even the series.
"You can keep top power plays off the board by staying out of the box, that's No. 1," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "You're going to need some saves, but we overpursued on some pucks, I would say. They move it very quickly. You have to understand their power play; they've got guys that can really move it, they can move it into real short, small windows and they can bomb some pucks from up. You've got a lot of elements on that power play."

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- Mathew Barzal -- Jordan Eberle
Anthony Beauvillier -- Brock Nelson -- Josh Bailey
Michael Dal Colle -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Derick Brassard
Matt Martin -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Adam Pelech -- Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews -- Scott Mayfield
Nick Leddy -- Andy Greene
Thomas Greiss
Semyon Varlamov
Scratched:Ross Johnston, Otto Koivula, Leo Komarov, Tom Kuhnhackl, Andrew Ladd, Sebastian Aho, Johnny Boychuk, Noah Dobson, Thomas Hickey, Christopher Gibson
Unfit to play: None

Lightning projected lineup

Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Tyler Johnson
Barclay Goodrow -- Yanni Gourde -- Blake Coleman
Patrick Maroon -- Cedric Paquette
Victor Hedman -- Zach Bogosian
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Luke Schenn
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched:Mathieu Joseph, Mitchell Stephens, Carter Verhaeghe, Alexander Volkov, Braydon Coburn,Scott Wedgewood
Unfit to play: Steven Stamkos, Jan Rutta

Status report

Clutterbuck will be a game time decision after he was injured in the second period in Game 1. … Trotz said he is contemplating a few changes to the Islanders lineup.