|
 It worked.
Nielsen poked the only goal of the shootout between Bishop's pads in
the bottom-dwelling Islanders' 2-1 win over Atlantic
Division-leading Tampa Bay.
"I scored against him on Long Island, too, when I went backhand,"
Nielsen said. "I didn't want to do that again, so I surprised him
with a quick shot and I was able to get it five-hole."
Islanders goaltender Kevin Poulin stopped all three shots he faced
in the shootout and 29 overall. Bishop also made 29 stops.
"We had our chances to put them away and we didn't," said Bishop,
who is 9-0-3 in his last 12 decisions. "Their goalie played all
right, and we have to put them away when we have the chance and we
let them hang in there.
"They put a goal in there in the second and we had chances in the
third, but we can't score. I thought we played a pretty good game,
but we have to put teams away like that."
Tampa Bay (28-15-5) entered the game tied for first with Boston in
the Atlantic Division but lost its fourth straight at home.
The Islanders (19-23-7) remained last in the Metropolitan Division,
but they have won eight of their last nine road games and nine of
their last 12 overall. They ended a sluggish second period for both
teams with a late rush and a power play goal to tie the score 1-1.
Five seconds after Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman was whistled
for high-sticking, center Thomas Vanek took a pass from Nielsen to
beat Bishop. Nielson and center John Tavares, who won the faceoff
against center Nate Thompson, received assists.
"They are one of the best lines in the league with Tavares, Vanek
and (Kyle) Okposo, who has been red hot," Hedman said. "They are a
tough team to beat and their goalie played well today as well as
Bishop, so it was a tough game. I thought they played better than we
did today."
Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead in the first period against the league's
worst power play.
[to top of second column] |
Right winger Martin St. Louis, stationed to the right of the
crease, popped in his 21st goal of the season into a virtually
empty net as Poulin was slow to recover from a missed shot in
front by center Valtteri Filppula.
Filppula had been unable to shoot a pass from the corner from
center Tyler Johnson but redirected by accident onto St. Louis'
stick. Filppula and Johnson were credited with assists.
New York outshot the Lightning 13-8 in the first period and
nearly tied the score one minute earlier when right winger Colin
McDonald hit the pipe with a shot and center Casey Cizikas
almost poked in the rebound.
Both teams had chances in the four-on-four overtime session, but
both goaltenders strengthened under pressure.
"It's always nice to have a goal or two in front of you," Poulin
said, "but sometimes it's going to be a tie."
Until Nielsen pulled off his surprise.
NOTES: Lightning C Steven Stamkos participated in a regular
morning skate with the Lightning on Thursday wearing a red
no-contact jersey. Stamkos has not played since breaking his
right leg and having a titanium rod inserted after crashing into
the net at Boston on Nov. 11. He remains hopeful of playing for
the Lightning before the Olympic break and taking his place with
Team Canada in Sochi, Russia. ... After Thursday, the Lightning
played their last eight games in eight cities, five games in
seven days and on back-to-back days twice. ... The Islanders
entered the game worst in the NHL in penalty kill (75.3 percent)
and allowed a goal on the first attempt. ... The Islanders won
seven straight road games until losing at Florida on Tuesday. On
Sunday, they became the sixth team in league history to win five
straight road games in which they trailed. ... Lightning RW
Martin St. Louis extended his points streak to six games. He is
one point from tying Larry Robinson for 87th on the NHL career
scoring list. ... Lightning D Victor Hedman had a team-leading
six shots in his 300th NHL game.
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