Some of the best goals are a result of the other team’s demise. In-Game Six of the second round, we saw Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield snap his stick on a slapshot that set up a counter-attack and the game-winning goal for the Flyers to force another game. Tonight the breaks went the Islanders way, as Shattenkirk whiffed on a slapshot which set up a breakaway opportunity for the Islanders.
We have to acknowledge the breakaway goal as being one of great execution and a well-timed pass that resulted in a one-timer from Jordan Eberle that slipped past Andre Vasilevskiy’s glove into the back of the net. While Eberle gets the deserved credit for scoring the game-winner, Anders Lee was the one who took the whiffed shot and started the break the other way, Lee passed the puck to himself by sending it off the boards down the ice but not with too much force as it would be an icing penalty, Lee then was able to beat everyone to the loose puck and send a pass that went right under Tampa defender Mikhail Sergachev’s stick to hit Eberle flying down the ice at full speed.
The goal left me as a viewer stunned not only by the execution and the sheer ability for the goal to happen in the first place. this goal left me stunned as someone who was almost convinced for the entirety of the game, that the Lightning was going to win the game and the series.
This game felt like a re-run of most of the series. The Islanders scored a powerplay goal in the first period to take the early lead on a Ryan Pulock slapshot from the point that zipped by Vasilevskiy on the pad side. The goal gave the Islanders the momentum and another goal was sure to put Tampa Bay on the ropes.
Then like the three losses in this series, the Islanders fell flat on offense. It was almost convincing that the Islanders weren’t going to score again as they could barely muster an attack on the Tampa defense. The shots on goal should say it all as the Islanders had 24 shots on goal while the Lightning had 37.
This gives Semyon Varlamov all the more credit. Throughout this series, the Lightning has been making both Varlamov and Tomas Griess look sub-par with their ability to set up goals with excellent cross-ice passes. Varlamov got the best of Tampa tonight, with 36 saves and being on the ice for 92 minutes, he was able to give the Islanders another game.
The game continued to feel like a re-run as the Lightning tied the game in the second period. When Victor Hedman nailed the slapshot from the point on the disorder created from a turnover, it felt convincing that the Lightning was going to score at least once more and possibly again on an empty net and get ready to play the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Final. While the script felt the same, the Islanders changed the narrative as they refused to bow out. The offense was flat but once the fatigue started to set in on the skaters, the Islanders could feel the momentum turning in their favor. Anders Lee has been quiet this series with only two assists and both coming in the Game One 8-2 drubbing, but the excellence displayed in double-overtime was a reminder of why he is the captain of the Islanders.
