Pucks were bouncing, some passes weren’t connecting and the Tampa Bay Lightning were down on the scoreboard when the first period of hockey concluded on Saturday’s game against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena.
New York utilized a pair of offensive zone chances to lead 2-0 through 20 minutes, but Tampa Bay on Saturday flipped the script on what had been a tough start.
The Lightning were the visibly better team over the final 40 minutes of regulation, and that backflip was reflected in the score—Tampa Bay came back to tie the Islanders and earn a standings point before falling 3-2 in a shootout.
Tampa Bay is now 18-11-3 and has earned standings points in three straight games.
“It shows the resilience in the team. I think we’ve obviously showed it in the past that we’re never out of it, we’re never giving up,” defenseman JJ Moser said of the comeback. "We kind of showed patience today. I think that’s the one thing we didn’t always have, just showing that patience in not giving up more while you’re chasing that goal and trying to come back. So that’s the good thing that we can take from today.”
Saturday’s early start favored the Islanders, who scored on their first shot of the day. New York’s early lead came on a 4-on-3 power play just over three minutes into the game.
Defenseman Matthew Schaefer scored with a one-timer from the left faceoff circle, giving the first overall pick from the 2025 NHL Draft the goal 3:05 into the game after a Lightning penalty killer broke their stick in the defensive zone.
The Islanders doubled their advantage on a rush chance set up by Anthony Duclair. The forward rushed into the Lightning zone before dropping the puck to a trailing Calum Ritchie, and the rookie shelved his shot to make it 2-0 with 9:34 left in the first period.
Despite the home team staking an early claim at the win, Tampa Bay dominated the second period. The Lightning outshot the Islanders 17-1 in the middle frame for a season-best plus-16 shot differential and forced New York goalie Ilya Sorokin into numerous stretching stops.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper said he liked the way his team played against the Islanders this season.
“It’s not ideal falling behind, especially against a team we haven’t really scored much on. It was tough…but I like the way we’re playing,” Cooper said postgame. "We’re on the road, we held a first-place team to one shot in one period and seven shots total in the final two periods. So it’s tough to not walk away with two points, but when they needed to defend they did, and when they needed a save, the goalie made it. And when they needed a post, they got that, too. You add those up and it turns into only one (point) out of two for us.”
The visitors finally broke Sorokin's seal midway through the second period.
Darren Raddysh scored a goal for a third consecutive game to get the Lightning within a goal of the Islanders at the tail end of a 5-on-3 power play. Nikita Kucherov fed a pass to the defenseman atop the left faceoff circle, where Raddysh slapped a shot through Sorokin’s glove.
Raddysh’s goal was his seventh of 2025-26, setting a new career high for goals in an NHL season. He was tied for fifth among all NHL defensemen for most goals this season after Saturday’s game, while his 23 points tied for 11th.
Tampa Bay carried its strong second period into the final frame of regulation, tying the game 2-2 just 3:20 into the third period.
Brayden Point won the faceoff at the right circle in the offensive zone, and Kucherov passed the puck to Moser, who was attacking to the right faceoff circle. Moser’s shot beat Sorokin to the top right corner of the net for the tying marker.
“We know that if we play defensively well, if we break the puck out well, that we’re always going to have the chances offensively,” Moser said. “We’re talented enough to always have those, and we’ve just got to capitalize on those without giving up much."
Tampa Bay pushed for the winning goal late, but Sorokin kept the Lightning off the scoreboard from there. Mathew Barzal and Emil Heineman each scored in the shootout for the Islanders to offset a Point goal in the shootout for Tampa Bay.
Sorokin finished with 32 saves for the Islanders, while Jonas Johansson had 15 for the Lightning. Kucherov’s two assists tied Duclair to co-lead all players in scoring on the night.
Saturday ended the team’s four-game road trip with a 2-1-1 record. The Lightning are now 18-11-3 this season and will return home to play the Florida Panthers at 7 p.m. on Monday, the first of four home games before the holiday break.
“Getting five (points) out of eight is good,” Raddysh said of the trip. "Obviously we want even more, but we’ve just got to go home and make sure we do the job. We’ve got a good stretch there, so make sure we’re hard to play against at home.”
All three of Raddysh, Moser and Cooper said the recent stretch of games against the defensively-rigid Islanders can help prepare the Lightning for the style of hockey that is needed to make a push for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“I think when it comes down to later in the season, especially playoffs, that’s the way most games are going to go,” Moser said of low-scoring, tight-checking games.
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
- Ilya Sorokin, NYI (32 saves, win)
- JJ Moser, TBL (Goal)
- Nikita Kucherov, TBL (2 assists)
