Islanders Could Never Establish Dominance Against Lightning

It really shouldn’t be surprising that the Tampa Bay Lightning are going to the Stanley Cup Final against the Montreal Canadiens in defense of their crown.

Tampa knocked off the Islanders Friday night 1-0 behind the immaculate goaltending of Andrei Vasilevskiy, who posted his second shutout in three games. He has five shutouts in his last 19 games, including four earned in series-clinching fashion.

It was textbook defense all around.

🎥 Trotz Postgame Availability 🎥 pic.twitter.com/GlltuIAKjf

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) June 26, 2021

Although Tampa has learned how to win in different ways, it all comes back to goaltending. Behind Vasilevskiy, the Lightning have not lost consecutive postseason games since the first round of the 2019 playoffs (14-0), the longest run in the NHL history.

The Tampa goaltender became the first netminder in NHL history with three series-clinching shutouts in a single playoff year.

It All Starts In Goal

It shouldn’t be surprising that Vasilevskiy has the best save percentage of the playoffs (.936). Montreal’s Carey Price is second at .934. And Islanders’ Semyon Varlamov is third (minimum 10 games) with a .922 save percentage.

Tampa played shutdown hockey in Game 7 and credit team defense for that. The Islanders could only put 18 shots on net, and that’s just not going to get it done in a Game 7 winner-take-all game.

🎥 Nelson & Barzal Postgame Availability 🎥 pic.twitter.com/AiXKPyfKze

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) June 26, 2021

The winning goal is going to have a sour taste for a long time. Yanni Gourde scored shorthanded. He became the first player in franchise history to score a shorthanded goal in a Game 7 and just the 10th NHL player to do so over the last 25 years.

“They got the shorthanded goal and that energized their team and the building,” coach Barry Trotz said. “In the third period we left it all out there. It’s a lot of pain for this group. This group has so much character. They’re feeling the pain right now.”

The pain was felt in the locker room.

“It (stinks) getting back to this point and coming up short again,” New York center Mathew Barzal said. “We’ve got guys like (Josh Bailey) and (Andy Greene), veteran guys. Being a young guy, I’ve got a few more years, but those guys, it’s more for those guys. It hurts seeing those guys in the locker room afterwards, just how close we were.”

Credit To The Islanders

The Islanders deserve a lot of credit. They lost in six games to Tampa in the conference finals last season, but made a stronger push this season to lose in seven.

But the truth of the matter is the Islanders were mostly playing catch-up the whole series, and that’s not a winning strategy.

🎥 Mayfield & Bailey Postgame Availability 🎥 pic.twitter.com/sdTvuicXPG

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) June 26, 2021

They took a 1-0 lead in Game 1, but could never build on that lead. They never enjoyed a series lead after Game 1. And once the puck was dropped, the Islanders managed to take the lead only twice in the seven games, and both were victories (Game 1 and Game 4).

After a 2-1 victory in Game 1, Tampa tied the series 1-1. The Islanders were then behind 2-1 in games and 3-2 before a thrilling Game 6.

Game 6 will go down as one of the most thrilling in Islanders playoff history. Coming off an embarrassing 8-0 loss in Game 5, the Islanders got off to a bad start to trail 2-0. Jordan Eberle pulled the Islanders to within one.

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Mayfield Goal Stands Out

Then, when it looked like it was going to be curtains for New York, defenseman Scott Mayfield tied the game in the third period with a highlight-reel goal and then Anthony Beauvillier fired the overtime winner to send the home crowd into a frenzy.

That was a moment to cherish, and the Islanders were never going to look so good again in this series. There were several factors that stood out.

A hard-fought series, @TBLightning. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/s0itSsEZbC

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) June 26, 2021

Brayden Point was a thorn in the side of the Islanders. He scored in every game, but the final one as he put together a nine-game scoring streak. He’s a big-game player. The Islanders really didn’t have anyone to match that kind of production, although Barzal came close.

Barzal scored goals in three of the games, and two of them were victories, so it’s apparent that when Barzal is playing well, the Islanders are usually playing well as a team.

Scoring Dried Up

As far as disappointments, there is a lot of blame to go around.

Across seven games of this series, the Islanders got no goals from Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Kyle Palmieri or Travis Zajac, and those three were important contributors who got the Islanders to the semifinals.

In Game 7, the Islanders were blunted by the shutdown defense of Tampa. Only Casey Cizikas was able to put more than two shots on Vasilevskiy (he had three shots). Eberle and Pageau had zero shots on goal.

The Lightning have clearly learned how to play rock-solid, shutdown defense. They had 21 blocks in Game 7 compared to only eight for the Islanders. And Tampa turned off their offense in the third period, preferring to guard the cage. Tampa had only four shots on goal in the third.

“They did a really good job,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “I think we attempted 50 shots tonight, somewhere in that range, and they had 21 blocks. We had some guys teeing them up and they were blocking them. They were committed and all that. They’re a good defensive team. They’re a better team than they were last year, in my mind.”

The Lightning are better than they were last season. But an argument can be made the Islanders were a better team than they were last year too.

Wahlstrom, Lee Were Missed

You can’t help but wonder Oliver Wahlstrom would have made a difference.

Or whether Anders Lee, who was lost early in the season to injury, would have given a jolt to the offense. The obvious answer is yes. Lee is the type of big-time player who could have made an impact on the semifinal series on the top line, which really never found their legs all season without him.

Now the Islanders have the whole summer to wonder what could have been. Lee will be back for next season, and the challenge for the Islanders will be to improve in the one area that doomed them in the series against Tampa. Lack of scoring.

The Islanders were outscored in the series 20-11. But stripping out the 8-0 disaster in Game 5, the Islanders were outscored only 12-11 in six games. That’s how close the Islanders are to being a Stanley Cup contender.

But most of the damage was done by five players: Point (6 goals), Gourde (3), Alex Killorn (2), Steven Stakmos (2) and Ondrej Palat (2), who outscored the Islanders 15-11.

They are almost there. Islanders fans should be encouraged by the progress under Lou Lamoriello, who was named GM of the year, and Trotz, who understands more than most people that you have to keep banging at the door.

The Washington Capitals under Trotz couldn’t get past the Pittsburgh Penguins for years, until they did in 2018, and it resulted in a Stanley Cup.

The Islanders must remind themselves of that over the summer. They are on the right course. Their time has just not come yet. But there will be changes in the locker room.

“There is a bond between all the players that is really strong,” Trotz said. “That group in the room won’t be together again. That’s just the lay of the land in the National Hockey League. They’re not going to be defined by this game. They’re going to be defined by all the games. We stayed to our identity. We’re on the right path. You got to keep going back. It’s not different than Tampa Bay. They had some heartache before they were able to win a Cup.”