AP Photo/Chris O’Meara
The Tampa Bay Lightning are one win away from returning to the Stanley Cup Final for the second successive year.
Tampa Bay defeated the New York Islanders 8-0 in Monday’s Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals at Amalie Arena to take a 3-2 series lead. Steven Stamkos and Alex Killorn led the way for the defending champions, who are looking to eliminate the Islanders in the same round in back-to-back seasons.
New York was outplayed throughout the contest and now must win two in a row to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since the 1983-84 campaign.
Notable Player Stats
- Steven Stamkos, C, TB: 2 G, 1 A
- Alex Killorn, LW, TB: 2 G, 1 A
- Nikita Kucherov, RW, TB: 3 A
- Victor Hedman, D, TB: 2 A
- David Savard, D, TB: 2 A
- Andrei Vasilevskiy, G, TB: 21-of-21 shots saved
Steven Stamkos Leads Way in Dominant Lightning Win
This version of Tampa Bay just doesn’t lose two playoff games in a row.
In fact, the last time it lost two straight postseason games was against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round in 2019. The 40-game span is an NHL playoff record, and the home team wasted no time making sure that record grew in Monday’s contest with first-period goals from Stamkos, Yanni Gourde and Killorn.
Stamkos’ goal came less than one minute into the game, which was important both because the team that scored first has won every game of this series, and it snapped a slump for the veteran after he didn’t score in the first four games.
It broke open the flood gates, as Gourde’s goal was actually a pass that deflected off a defender, and Killorn’s goal came after a costly Islanders turnover.
The second period was more of the same, as Stamkos ripped a beautiful shot on the power play to push the advantage to 4-0, Ondrej Palat redirected a shot from the point to make it 5-0, and Killorn scored again on the power play to make it 6-0.
The Lightning continued pouring on in the third period during a reminder of just how dangerous an offense that has been trying to break out during this series can be when operating on all cylinders.
Tampa Bay was so dominant on all levels when the game was hanging in the balance that goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy didn’t have to do much. He faced just 14 shots through two periods but was ready to turn them away and prevent any hope of a comeback.
If he keeps doing that and the offense remains as dialed in as it was Monday, the Lightning will be in the Stanley Cup Final once again.
Islanders Play Worst Game of Series on All Levels
These playoffs have been all about finding a turning point in a series for the Islanders. After all, they were down 2-1 and won three straight against the Pittsburgh Penguins to advance out of the first round and did the exact same against the Boston Bruins in the second round.
It looked like it would be more of the same after New York fell behind 2-1 against Tampa Bay and won Game 4.
So much for that.
Goaltender Semyon Varlamov didn’t make it out of the first period and was replaced by Ilya Sorokin even though the early deficit was largely not his fault. New York was abysmal in front of him with poor defensive play, turnovers and an inability to clear the zone. Were it not for Varlamov, the visitors could have been down by five or six goals after a rough first period.
Things just got worse from there for New York, as it hit the post multiple times and allowed two power-play goals in a penalty-filled and ugly second period.
The effort and steady play that has been there throughout the postseason was missing, and the team looked completely lost as the deficit became insurmountable. The frustration was apparent when Mathew Barzal was issued a game misconduct for an unnecessary cross-check on Jan Rutta right before the second intermission.
It was a fitting penalty during a brutal performance from the Islanders, and the sequence led to yet another power-play goal to add insult to injury.
What’s Next?
The series returns to New York for Wednesday’s Game 6.
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