The Islanders are trying to figure out how to bottle up some of the Lightning’s elite skaters. One way you’re sure to see in Tuesday’s Game 3 is an old-fashioned containment style — the Isles are going to get physical.
For a team that’s been among the league leaders in hits the past few years, that shouldn’t be an issue. But it was in the third periods of Games 1 and 2, when the Islanders let the smaller, speedier Lightning carry the play.
It nearly became an issue in Game 1 when a 4-1 Isles lead shrunk to 4-3 in the closing minutes.