Kucherov has 3 points, Lightning hang on for win against Islanders

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning ended a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 win against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Saturday.

Nicholas Paul, Brayden Point, and Luke Glendening scored, and Victor Hedman had three assists for the Lightning (31-23-5). Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves.

"We knew how big these points were coming in for both teams," Point said. "I liked our game. I liked our compete, and I'm happy we got the job done, especially considering last game. They took it to us pretty good (a 6-2 Islanders win on Feb. 8)."

Anders Lee and Brock Nelson scored, and Noah Dobson had two assists for the Islanders (23-20-14), who have lost five of six (1-3-2). Ilya Sorokin made 19 saves.

"I cannot say we had a bad game. That's what I said to them after the second period," Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. "It was tight out there. There was no room. It was like a playoff hockey game where there were barely any chances on both sides."

Paul gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 4:12 of the first period, two seconds after a power play had expired. His shot from just outside the crease banked off the post before deflecting in off Sorokin's pad.

The Islanders appeared to tie the game at 4:42 of the first when Bo Horvat scored from the slot, but the Lightning challenged the play for offside, and the call on the ice was overturned after a video review.

Kucherov then made it 2-0 at 5:34 of the first with a one-timer from the point off a feed from Hedman. The shot deflected off Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech, who was battling with Point in the slot.

"I thought defensively we were a little late trying to close on guys," Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri said. "The way our system works, we got to try and anticipate and be on top of our guys and take away time and space, and we were unable to do that."

Point extended the lead to 3-0 at 5:00 of the second period with a power-play goal.

"We're just playing defense first then getting offense off our defense," Paul said. "We're creating turnovers and going the other way."

Lee got the Islanders to within 3-1 at 13:44 of the third period, scoring from the top of the crease with Sorokin pulled for an extra skater.

Nelson cut it to 3-2 at 17:25 with a power-play goal from the right face-off circle with Sorokin again on the bench for an extra skater.

Tampa Bay was 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.

"I thought that we played pretty well," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "We took too many penalties, and it cost us. I liked our compete. … We can't take the penalties that we took."

Glendening scored an empty-net goal with 30 seconds remaining for the 4-2 final.

NOTES: Kucherov had at least three points for the 15th time this season. He leads the NHL with 98 points (37 goals, 61 assists). … Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak played after missing a 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday because of an illness. He had one shot on goal in 21:10 of ice time. … Islanders forward Casey Cizikas returned after missing a 4-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday because of an upper-body injury. He had two shots on goal in 12:11 of ice time. … New York defenseman Scott Mayfield did not play and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.