Six different players scored Thursday night for the host New York Islanders, who rolled to a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Elmont, N.Y.
Noah Dobson, Mathew Barzal and Kyle Palmieri scored in the first while Ryan Pulock, Bo Horvat and Casey Cizikas scored in unanswered fashion in the second for the Islanders, who improved to 3-2-1 under new head coach Patrick Roy.
Goalie Ilya Sorokin made 16 saves.
Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Hagel scored for the Lightning, who lost both ends of a back-to-back in New York – including a 3-1 loss Wednesday to the Rangers — following a three-game winning streak prior to the All-Star break. Goalie Jonas Johansson recorded 18 saves.
Tampa Bay announced before Thursday’s game that defenseman Mikhail Sergachev underwent surgery to repair a broken tibia and fibula in his left leg suffered Wednesday against the Rangers.
Dobson was credited with the game’s first goal 4:07 after faceoff, when his shot glanced off the stick of Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak, who was angling for position with Oliver Wahlstrom, and trickled into the net.
Kucherov tied the game 2:35 later, when his shot sailed to the stick side of Sorokin — screened by Horvat and Steven Stamkos — as the Islanders goalie stuck his glove up.
The Islanders took the lead for good with 5:53 left following a faceoff win deep in the Lightning zone. Horvat outdueled Stamkos and beat him to the puck before dishing to Barzal, who backhanded a shot over Johansson’s stick shoulder.
Palmieri extended the lead to 3-1 with 1:25 remaining when he beat Johansson from point-blank range. The Lightning pulled within 3-2 when Hagel put back the rebound of Anthony Cirelli’s shot for a power-play goal 74 seconds into the middle period.
But the Islanders began their decisive flurry at the 7:10 mark, when Pulock scored a power-play goal when his 90-mph slap shot from just inside the blue line caromed off the far post. Horvat scored from the high slot just 68 seconds later, when his shot sailed past Johansson as he was screened by Anders Lee.
Cizikas, who missed the previous 10 games with a lower-body injury, scored an unassisted goal with 4:38 remaining after Cal Clutterbuck forced a turnover by checking Brayden Point as he delivered a backhanded pass.
–Field Level Media
