Sometimes the better team doesn’t win.
That was the case last night as the Tampa Bay Lightning failed to close out the New York Islanders in Game 5 Tuesday night.
Some will point to the resiliency of the Islanders in avoiding elimination. Others will direct their attention to the Lightning not having that killer instinct. Neither of these are correct. With their best player absent for the second game of the series, and facing a team that had their backs up against the wall, Tampa Bay dictated everything last night.
At 5v5, they led in shot attempts (71-55), shots (30-22), scoring chances (35-24), high danger chances (12-6), and quality (xGF% 61 percent).