Ben Bishop began Wednesday night being named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, given to the NHL’s top goaltender.
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“He’d probably like to have one back, but at the end of the day he’s going to bounce back”, Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. He’s a great goaltender.
Said Tyler Johnson: “We’re lucky it’s not like March Madness, where it’s one game and you’re out”. “And then when it came to the game, we didn’t execute, we came back to instinctual habits”. You can’t really do anything about it, so it’s all about getting ready for the next game if you win or lose.
The Islanders needed overtime to get three of four victories against the Florida Panthers in the opening round.
“I think our group’s got a great mindset”, Tavares said.
“We turned the puck over a lot”, Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said. “We’re all very familiar with one another and just want to keep rolling”.
Shane Prince added the second goal with three minutes left in the period.
Goalies_N.Y. Islanders, Greiss 5-2-0 (36 shots-33 saves). Clearly tired, the Isles couldn’t clear pucks out of their own end and started losing numerous battles they ruled over the first two periods.
They will play Game 2 on Saturday at 3 p.m. Eastern. Andrei Vasilevskiy; Bishop’s replacement, was a ideal 8 for 8 in relief.
For all the discussion about the team’s five days off since the Detroit system, coach Jon Cooper pointed out that the first few minutes could not have gone better for the Lightning.
It only lasted two minutes before Travis Hamonic scored, silencing Amalie Arena.
NY built the 3-1 lead despite failing to take advantage of its first two power-play opportunities. They kept pushing, growing a 4-1 lead by the third period that was enough for them to limp over the finish line.
Chris O’Meara/AP Shane Prince celebrates one of his two goals Wednesday night in a 5-3 victory over the Lightning. It’s one of those things you’ve got to move on from. There was the first-round series loss to the Capitals last spring, when Game 7 was an utter no-show that still stings some players – most notably captain John Tavares – whenever it is brought up. The goal gave more life to the Lightning who finally showed the same spunk from the beginning of the first. He came up with the timely saves in the third period when the Lightning were pressuring and scored twice. Filppula scored on a rebound shot with 2:32 left, trimming New York’s lead to 4-3.
“We came out with some jump, I don’t know whether we thought it was going to be easy or what…” “The compete level creates chances, that’s how we have to play. We’ve got to make sure that everybody bounces back, and we’ve got to help him better than we did”. “There is something to build off of”.
“I’ve been hit more times I think than when I played”, he quipped. “Fortunately, it just caught me at the tip of the nose and nothing real serious.”…
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Greiss was the biggest reason that the Islanders were able to overcome a third period push by the Lightning.
