New York Islanders lose Game 2 due to lack of execution

The New York Islanders should have won Game 2, but they didn’t and they only have themselves to blame.

The New York Islanders were completely, thoroughly embarrassed in Game 1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. So you knew they were going to have a better game in Game 2. They did, but the fact remains the Islanders lost Game 2 to the Lightning 2-1 and they only have themselves to blame.

Game 2 saw the Islanders get on the board early thanks to Matt Martin. Martin took a nice feed from Nick Leddy and put it past Andrei Vasilevskiy, who lost track of the puck just 84 seconds into the game. The Islanders dominated for most of the first period until Victor Hedman tied the game with just under two minutes left in the period. They outshot the Lightning 13-4.

However, the Islanders absolutely should have been up by at least a goal after 20 minutes. They got a five minute power play after Alex Killorn got a game misconduct for hitting Brock Nelson in the head from behind into the boards. The Islanders got absolutely nothing out of it.

More from Puck Prose

• Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
• This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
• 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
• 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
• This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings

The Islanders had plenty of chances in the first period, but other than Martin’s goal, they simply couldn’t execute. The same could be said about the second period. After 40 minutes, the Islanders were clearly the better team, even with the game tied at 1.

They were outshooting Tampa 20-10 and the Lightning were down to nine forwards, with Alex Killorn out of the game due to a match penalty and Brayden Point out of the game due to an injury. The Islanders had a perfect opportunity to pounce on a wounded opponent.

However, the third period is when the Islanders started to falter. In the third period, the Lightning outshot the Islanders 11-8. Tampa was clearly the more desperate team. They had several scoring chances during which they failed to generate even a single shot on goal. The last one was the most costly.

With just over a minute left, Devon Toews (25) and the Islanders had a golden opportunity to score. Toews, for some odd reason, didn’t shoot the puck despite having a wide open lane to shoot. Instead, he tried to pass it to Mathew Barzal (13), which led to a turnover.

And then there was whatever the heck happened in the final 25 seconds. It was a failure from top to bottom. The Islanders were outworked and outbattled by the Lightning, who got several golden scoring chances before Nikita Kucherov scored with just 8.7 seconds left to give Tampa the lead.

Barry Trotz has done a lot to help the Islanders get to this point, but the blame falls on him as well. Even with just nine forwards, Tampa was shortening their bench and using their best players. How did Trotz respond? By putting Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Andrew Ladd, and Leo Komarov on the ice. They were dominated all night long. Why have them out in a tie game with just 30 seconds left?

Game 2 was a game the New York Islanders needed to win. And should have won. But that’s not what happened. The Tampa Bay Lightning found a way to win. And the Islanders need to look in a mirror because they have only themselves to blame for being down 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Final.