Top 3 reasons why the New York Islanders lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning

The New York Islanders season is over, and here are three reasons why.

The New York Islanders fought through adversity to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals. While the Islanders were deserving of the position they were in, it would take a super effort to knock out one of the league’s best in the Tampa Bay Lightning. Unfortunately, this series did not end in their favor, as they were eliminated in six games.

After falling 8-2 in the series opener back on Sept. 7, the Islanders could have curled up in a ball and waved the white flag. But they came back and battled for the next five games to put themselves in a position where they could in fact take this series.

But after losing last night in overtime, the series was over and the Islanders were headed home. Here are my reasons why the Islanders were unable to take this series.

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Speed Kills

On a team that is equipped with players like Mat Barzal, who won the fastest skater competition at this year’s All-Star Game, and the likes of Anthony Beauvillier and Jordan Eberle, this Islander team has some speed.

But compared to what the Lightning have in their arsenal, this Islander team was at a major disadvantage.

Watching this series unfold, it was clear which team was the better one. And it was not a surprise, as the Lightning had knocked off a really tough Columbus Blue Jackets team as well as a grizzly, veteran Bruins team. Although it was not as easy as the series may indicate on paper, the Lightning were able to play to their strengths more often than not.

The biggest thing that separated them from this Islander team was their speed in all facets of the game. Their players were the first ones to every puck, whether it be in the offensive zone or the defensive zone.

Physically being fast is one thing, but being able to make mental decisions at the speed they were doing so was phenomenal. Their quick playmaking ability overpowered this Islander team, a team whose defense was their strongsuit throughout the entirety of their playoff run.

At times this series, it seemed like a Harlem Globetrotters show. Every play the Lightning tried to make worked to perfection, as it seemed once they broke over the Islander blue line, it was a sure thing that a prime scoring chance was on the horizon.

It was a tough thing to watch for Islander fans, as you had to just hold your breath and hope netminder Semyon Varlamov would find a way to get a piece of something or that a player would give up the body to block a shot. Albeit those two things happened all series long, their resilient effort to create opportunities paid off in the end.

The biggest thing, which I talked about in one of my previous pieces was the quick transition game of the Lightning. A strong defensive effort was quickly turned into an unstoppable offense, pressuring this Islander defensive group to the brink of exhaustion each game.

The quick playmaking on both sides of the puck makes them near unstoppable. When the Islanders finally were able to snag a puck, it was time for a dump and change. Due to the speed of their game, the Islanders were in survival mode.

Credit to the Islanders, as they were able to do that for six games. But being dominated game-in and game-out is not a recipe for success.

Power Play Woes Continue

Heading into this series against the Lightning, the Islanders’ power play was brutal. As much as the team was able to score five on five to knock off their three previous opponents, they knew that when the opportunity was earned against a Lightning team that did not allow much offensively, they would have to make the most of it to give themselves a fighting chance at winning this series.

But unfortunately, their woes continued, ending their run for the cup with a  15.1 percent success rate. That was only slightly worse when compared to their regular-season mark of 17.3 percent, but it was the timeliness of these missed opportunities. Half the time, you rather see the Islanders on the kill, as they seem to respond better in that situation than when they have the man advantage.

In this series alone, the Islanders were two for 19 with the man advantage. While the Lightning only scored four times on 21 opportunities, they did not need those goals as much as the Islanders needed theirs.

And forget about the goals for a second, but the Islanders did not create many chances when up a man, killing momentum that they barely had to begin with. For the Lightning, these opportunities would still go by the boards, but they had the utmost confidence in their group and were creating opportunities at an alarming rate that it not coming through was not as detrimental.

The gameplan was to get the puck to Ryan Pulock, who has one of the strongest slapshots in the league, someone who will win the hardest shot at least once when his career is all said and done. But you could see the Lightning were well aware, getting in his shooting lane.

You could see the Lightning were well aware as when a pass to him looked like the smart move, a Lightning player was already making a move towards him, causing the puck carrier, usually Barzal, to turn around and reset, as the clock ticked down..

Even if a pass to Pulock seemed doable, a Lightning player was already a stride away from picking off the pass or at the very least disrupting it. This caused the puck carrier, usually Barzal, to turn around and reset, as the clock ticked down.

It worked once. That is it. The Islanders’ seemed unwilling to move on from that plan. Last night, we saw the biggest powerplay opportunity of this series, given the moment, go by the boards. in overtime, in a do or die situation, the Lightning took a too-many men penalty, giving the Islanders a chance to come through in a critical spot and force a Game Seven.

This opportunity was coming after killing off an Andy Greene high-sticking infraction, a double-minor, that had carried over from the wailing seconds of the third period. So the team from the island had the momentum, but their power play showcased nothing.

They could not enter the zone, as the Lightning even got a short-handed opportunity, but fortunately, Nick Leddy was able to use his speed and break up the play.

But that is how it went for the Islanders with the man-advantage. And looking back, they could really have helped themselves.

Inability to Adjust

The gameplan of the Lightning was no secret. They were very eager to get their defenseman involved as much as possible. Having the third guy high, creeping into the Islanders zone accounted for so many top-notch opportunities, coming away with goals.

The Islanders in their own zone struggled to adjust their positioning, as it seemed the Lightning were always one step ahead of them.

Victor Hedman was a man on a mission this series, scoring four goals. But the majority of those goals all came due to the Islanders’ inability to pick him up, coming in late on rushes or cutting to the net to clean up rebounds. He did this time and time again.

But he was not the only d-man doing this, as Mikhail Sergachev did so a few times creating separation, scoring a goal.

Even late in Game 5, Zach Bogosian snuck in on an odd-man rush as a cross-seam pass should have ended in a goal, but he could not corral the puck.

The other play that the Lightning loved to run was the dump off the boards and chase down the puck. I cannot tell you how many times this play worked to perfection, as the Lightning used their speed and momentum to win the puck battle with ease, skid-stopping, and turning to create a cycle in the Islanders’ zone.

It was tough to watch as it seemed like a broken record. For the Islanders, their gameplan most times did not pay off as the Lightning knew what was happening and knew how to stop it.