Lightning 5, Islanders 4 (OT)
NEW YORK -- Brian Boyle scored 2:48 into overtime Tuesday night to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-4 victory over the New York Islanders in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Barclays Center.
The Lightning lead the series 2-1 with Game 4 scheduled for Friday night at Barclays Center.
Boyle leveled Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey before picking up the loose puck and beginning the winning rally. He followed the play and put back a rebound of a shot by Alex Killorn.
Nikita Kucherov scored with 38.4 seconds left in regulation to force overtime for the Lightning. Ryan Callahan, Victor Hedman and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for the reigning Eastern Conference champions. Goalie Ben Bishop recorded 35 saves.
Josh Bailey scored two goals while Nick Leddy and Cal Clutterbuck each added a goal for the Islanders, who are in second round for the first time since 1993. Goalie Thomas Greiss made 36 saves.
There was plenty of feistiness Tuesday between a pair of teams that seem to be generating a healthy sense of dislike for one another. During warmups, Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic shoved Lightning center Brian Boyle after the latter sauntered over the Islanders logo at center ice.
Early in the second period, Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey leveled Lightning left winger Jonathan Drouin with a clean but lethal hit. Seconds later, a scrum began in front of the New York net that resulted in penalties being assessed to Hamonic and the Lightning's Slater Koekkoek and Ondrej Palat.
The two teams traded four goals in a wild third period. Bailey scored a power-play goal at 2:27 to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead but the Lightning tied it just 58 seconds later when Namestnikov scored following a New York turnover behind its net.
An unassisted goal by Clutterbuck with 8:37 left put the Islanders ahead 4-3.
Bishop was pulled with 2:11 left and the Lightning peppered Greiss before getting the equalizer on Kucherov's goal with 38.4 seconds remaining.
The Islanders outshot the Lightning 17-9 during a dominant first period yet entered intermission tied after a late power-play goal by Tampa Bay.
Islanders left winger Nikolay Kulemin won a battle for the puck along the boards with Andrej Sustr to set up Bailey's goal 7:55 into the game to make it 1-0. Kulemin shoveled the puck past approaching Lightning center Tyler Johnson and to Bailey, who was parked in front of the net. His shot from point-blank range sailed past Bishop to give New York a 1-0 lead for just the second time in nine playoff games.
The Lightning nearly tied it with 6:28 remaining, when Boyle appeared to poke back a rebound of a shot by Drouin. But it was ruled Boyle swung at the puck while it was in the air. The play stood after a replay challenge by Lightning head coach Jon Cooper.
A tripping penalty on Islanders center Casey Cizikas with 1:33 remaining set up the tying goal. A shot by Killorn ticked off the stick of Callahan, bounced off the left post and behind Greiss to make it 1-1.
The Lightning took a 2-1 lead in authoritative fashion 8:10 into the second, when Johnson won a faceoff in the Islanders zone. The puck skittered to Hedman, whose slap shot soared past Greiss.
Leddy tied the game with 5:10 left in the period, when his shot threaded a leaping Matt Martin and flew to the left of Bishop.
NOTES: The Islanders scratched 14 players, including C Mikhail Grabovski (concussion), G Jaroslav Halak (lower body) C Anders Lee (broken leg), D Ryan Pulock (upper body) as well as LW Eric Boulton, D Adam Pelech, RW Ryan Strome and C James Wright. Halak, who was injured March 8, began skating with the Islanders. ... RW Josh Bailey returned for the Islanders after missing the first two games of the series with an upper-body injury. ... The Lightning scratched 17 players, including RW J.T. Brown (upper body), D Matthew Carle (undisclosed), RW Erik Condra (upper body), C Steven Stamkos (blood clot), D Anton Stralman (broken leg) as well as LW Jonathan Marchessault and D Matt Taorminia. ... Stamkos, who underwent surgery April 4, did not travel because he is still on blood thinners.