EDMONTON, Alberta: Brayden Point scored twice and added three assists, and the well-rested Tampa Bay Lightning romped to a 8-2 win over the travel- and game-weary New York Islanders to open the Eastern Conference finals on Monday night.
The Lightning showed no signs of rust following a near week-long break after eliminating the Boston Bruins in their second-round series with a 3-2 double-overtime win on Aug. 31. They instead resembled a refreshed team by scoring three times on nine shots to build a 3-1 lead by the 10:46 mark of the first period, and matched a franchise record for most goals scored in a playoff game.
Nikita Kucherov had four assists, and scored his 34th career playoff goal to move one ahead of Martin St. Louis for first on the franchise list. Yanni Gourde scored twice, Victor Hedman had a goal and two assists and Ryan McDonagh and Ondrej Palat also scored for the second-seeded Lightning.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves, and the Lightning have won five straight, matching their longest playoff run since 2015.
Game 2 is Wednesday.
The Islanders, by comparison, came out flat, looking like a team that spent Sunday flying to Edmonton, Alberta, from Toronto, a day after a 4-0 win over Philadelphia in Game 7 of their second-round series.
Thomas Greiss, who stopped 16 shots in earning his first postseason shutout on Saturday, was yanked after giving up three goals on nine shots. He was replaced by Semyon Varlamov, who gave up five goals on 25 shots.
Jordan Eberle briefly tied the game at 1 with a power-play goal for New York, the only remaining team that played a preliminary round elimination series. Nick Leddys third-period goal briefly cut the Lightning lead to 6-2.
The eight goals allowed matched a franchise low, following an 8-3 loss to the New York Rangers in the Islanders’ second playoff game on April 10, 1975.
The opening goal reflected the disparity in rest between the two teams.
Point opened the scoring 74 seconds in by bursting up the left wing, getting a step a around Ryan Pulock, driving to the net and wrapping the puck around Greiss.
After Eberle scored, the Lightning struck for two goals on consecutive shots, coming 2:34 apart.
Hedman, from the blue line and set up by Points no-look pass, blasted a shot inside the left post with Greiss screened by Tampa Bays Alex Killorn for a power-play goal. Then McDonagh beat Greiss high on the short side from the left circle.
Point extended his point streak to seven games, in which hes combined for four goals and 12 assists. He also has a point in 13 of Tampa Bays 14 playoff games this year. He and Kucherovs five-point outings were each career highs and a franchise record for the Lightning.
The Lightning piled on by scoring twice in the second period, including a delayed goal scored by Gourde following an NHL video review as play progressed. The horn was blown 14 seconds after Gourdes shot crossed the goal line and bounced off Islanders defenseman Andy Greenes stick, which was in the net.
Islanders checking-line forward Cal Clutterbuck briefly returned to the bench but did not play in the third period. He limped off midway through the second period, after taking Mikail Sergachevs slap shot off his right ankle.
Frustration also set in late in the second period, when New Yorks Mathew Barzal angrily slammed his stick on the glass following a missed scoring opportunity.
NOTES: The Lightning matched their playoff goal-scoring record set in an 8-2 win over Pittsburgh in a 2011 first-round game. … Isles coach Barry Trotz revealed he and Lightning coach Jon Cooper attended the same high school — though not at the same time — in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. The two recently posed for a picture in a gym while inside the Toronto bubble, and had it sent to the high school. … Hedmans power-play goal was the first allowed by the Islanders in nine games, ending the franchise playoff-record run. New York had killed off 16 straight power-play opportunities since allowing one in a 3-2 loss to Washington on Aug. 18. Tampa converted three of six power-play opportunities.
UP NEXT
Game 2 is Wednesday at 8 p.m. EDT.
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