The Islanders’ success has been built on their solid defensive structure. But the same is true for the defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning, who have now wrested back home-ice advantage in this NHL semifinal series.
The Lightning won Game 3, 2-1, on Thursday night to take a 2-1 series lead before a raucous 12,978 as capacity once again expanded at Nassau Coliseum. It was a razor-thin margin in a defensive battle decided by Brayden Point's goal at 19:40 of the second period.
Vezina finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves, including eight in the third period as the Lightning were content to sit back and defend, while Semyon Varlamov stopped 23 shots.