The Backcheck: Focused finish extends Lightning win streak to four games

Just over five minutes into the second period of Tuesday’s Eastern Conference matchup against the New York Islanders, the Tampa Bay Lightning faced an abbreviated 5-on-3 penalty kill in a 1-1 game.

Tampa Bay fought back to even strength without allowing a goal, and the visitors took the momentum from there—the Lightning scored twice in under a three-minute span and never trailed in a 4-1 win at UBS Arena.

The Lightning improved to 44-25-5 this season with Tuesday’s win, one that opened a four-game road trip.

“I liked the way we competed,” Lightning captain Victor Hedman said. “What I probably liked the most was the third period. We didn’t give up anything and spent a lot of time in their end. That’s how we’re gonna win on the road and down the stretch here. In the playoffs that’s the kind of game we want to play.”

Tuesday marked the Lightning’s fourth straight win, one that opened with Oliver Bjorkstrand’s 20th goal of the season. Bjorkstrand redirected a point shot by defenseman Darren Raddysh 8:46 into the game to beat Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin.

The Islanders evened the score with a shorthanded goal by Bo Horvat for a 1-1 game through 20 minutes, but Tampa Bay took over in period two.

Despite having to erase back-to-back penalties, including 13 seconds of a 5-on-3 only 5:13 into the period, Tampa Bay’s penalty kill unit allowed only one shot on goal over the extended disadvantage.

“That was huge for us. The PK was big today,” Hedman said. “For us, we’ve obviously put a lot of emphasis on special teams, and the PK was big for us today.”

The Lightning outscored the Islanders 2-0 in the second period despite being outshot 9-6.

Jake Guentzel’s 38th goal of the season regained the Lightning lead shortly after the penalty kill. Nikita Kucherov chased for a loose puck in the left corner, drawing multiple Islanders to follow his lead. Kucherov sifted a swift pass to an open Guentzel at the right post, and the latter buried the puck for a 2-1 lead 8:09 into period two.

Hedman pushed the advantage further with 9:19 left in the second period on another pass from Kucherov, who gained the offensive zone before waiting to find an open Hedman in the high slot.

Hedman’s shot ripped through the blocker of Sorokin after Guentzel drew a defender to the net. The goal was Hedman’s 60th point of the season and featured the 300th career assist for Guentzel.

Tampa Bay held the Islanders off the scoreboard in the third period before forward Nick Paul found the empty net with 3:31 remaining to close the scoring and cap a 4-1 win in the team's opener on their final extended road trip of the season.

“We’re just getting ready for the playoffs,” Paul said. “Playoffs is tight games, you know, 1-1, 1-0, 2-1. Real tight, low-scoring games. If we can just play hard defense and just keep building for the rest of the games out here, that’s what we want to do.”

Kucherov, Point and Guentzel each finished Tuesday with multiple points, and Kucherov held a league-leading 111 points entering Wednesday.

Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 of 29 shots for his third consecutive win.

Tampa Bay is one point shy of tying Toronto for the Atlantic Division lead and will play another divisional opponent on Thursday in Ottawa, which is 39-29-6 this season and in the top wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.

Tampa Bay is close to clinching its berth to the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but coach Jon Cooper said after Tuesday’s win that his team isn't satisfied by simply getting into the playoffs.

The Lightning continue to strive for home ice advantage as they look to peak at the right time.

“Bottom line is you don’t want to roll into the playoffs with your B-game going. You want to have your A-game…We’re in a battle ourselves,” Cooper said. “Ultimately we’re not in a playoff spot yet, but depending on how things go here, if you have a chance to get home ice you’d like to get it. So we still have lots to play for.”

Benjamin’s Three Stars:

• Nikita Kucherov, TBL (2 assists)

• Jake Guentzel, TBL (Goal, assist)

• Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL (28 saves, win)