Islanders 3, Lightning 1
Captain John Tavares and Anders Lee scored 12 seconds apart late in the third period as host New York rallied to extend its winning streak to four games.
Nikolay Kulemin also scored for the Islanders, who registered a season-high 48 shots on goal but trailed until Tavares netted his 13th of the season with 3:09 left. Kyle Okposo recorded an assist and a game-high eight shots while Jaroslav Halak made 20 saves in posting his fourth straight victory.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, who won his first career start at Philadelphia on Tuesday, was dazzling while making 45 saves to give the Lightning a chance. Brett Connolly scored his sixth goal of the season just shy of the midway point of the third period for Tampa Bay, which finished a 1-3-1 road trip.
Vasilevskiy stopped all 29 shots he faced over the first two periods and the Lightning killed off 5:02 of power-play time for the Islanders in the second session. Connolly steamed toward the net and got his stick on Tyler Johnson’s feed, chipping it up and past Halak 9:16 into the third to snap a scoreless tie.
Okposo, who was denied by Vasilevskiy moments earlier, corralled the puck in the right faceoff circle and found Tavares in the slot for the tying goal. Lee put the Islanders ahead, deflecting defenseman Travis Hamonic’s shot from the right point, and Kulemin added an empty-netter with 71 seconds remaining.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Tavares, who appeared to be hit in the face with a puck in the final minutes, was 12-4 in the faceoff circle and Islanders D Calvin de Haan finished with six blocked shots. … Tampa Bay RW Ryan Callahan played his 500th career game. … Lightning D Jason Garrison did not return for the third period due to an undisclosed injury.