(UNIONDALE, N.Y.) The New York Islanders shocked the Tampa Bay Lightning and a stadium full of Isles fans Wednesday night in a comeback victory that forces a Game 7 on Friday.
The Islanders trailed 2-0 in the second period and were facing elimination, but they were able to tie the game in the third period, force overtime and steal the victory on Anthony Beauvillier’s game-winner.
Coming off of an 8-0 Game 5 beatdown, the Lightning picked up where they left off grabbing goals from Brayden Point, who extended his goal streak to nine straight games, and Anthony Cirelli. And in a series where the team who scored the game’s first goal ended up winning every time, the atmosphere at the Nassau Coliseum grew dim.
But minutes later, Jordan Eberle brought the Coliseum back to life with a backhand goal late in the second period. And with just under nine minutes left in the third period, Scott Mayfield sniped a short-side goal past Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to even the score at two.
“We were trying to give ourselves a chance to get to Game 7,” Eberle said in a postgame press conference. “That was the only thing we had in our minds tonight. You go down two and you just want to keep pushing, found a way to get two and give ourselves a chance in overtime, which we ultimately did."
The momentum clearly shifted back to the Islanders, and Beauvillier wasted no time in overtime to finish the job. A lazy pass by Blake Coleman into a dangerous area in front of his own goal proved fatal, as Beauvillier stole the puck and immediately scored before Tampa Bay realized what had happened.
The home crowd erupted and produced a rainstorm of beer cans, water bottles, hats and other random objects that covered the ice.
“That place was going crazy. Everyone is happy we're going back to Tampa and huge effort from our team today,” Beauvillier said after the game.
The Islanders and Lightning will face off in Game 7 on Friday night in Tampa Bay. The winner will go on to the Stanley Cup Finals to play either the Montreal Canadiens or the Vegas Golden Knights.
Isles coach Barry Trotz emphasized the importance of the win, but acknowledged that the journey is not over yet.
“It’s a moment that you’ll remember. These are big moments and great memories to have. But we’ve gotta get another one.”