The Islanders find themselves in a place of controversy once again. After an embarrassing Game 1 loss, the Isles kept the Bolts at bay until the last 10 seconds of Game 2, giving up a last-minute goal to lose the game. The Islanders finally put their mark on the series during Game 3, winning that game 5-3. Game 4 was characterized by 12 seconds, where New York gave away two goals in the second period. The Islanders weren’t able to regain their lead and after Tampa Bay scored an empty-netter, the scoreboard read 4-1. The Eastern Conference Final has reached Game 5 and now the Islanders need to win or they will go home.

The Series Thus Far

That has been the story of the Islanders’ Eastern Conference Finals showing so far. They have shown an incredible amount of promise, but were rarely able to capitalize on their potential. Unfortunately for Long Islanders, promise and potential does not outweigh the pure raw talent and skill Tampa Bay has.

The Islanders have shown they can beat talented teams before, including future hall-of-famer Alex Ovechkin and the brightest young goalie in the league, Carter Hart. They played Islanders hockey, with many scorelines one would expect out of a Premier League match, not a hockey game. Adam Pelech obviously wants to prove he deserves a payraise, and Lou Lamoriello looks like a genius trading for Andy Greene and J.G. Pageau.

The issue clearly isn’t that the Islanders are bad. It is that the Lightning have been playing their style of disciplined hockey better than New York. The Islanders pride themselves on being a team that does not give opponents chances and that has been the biggest talking point during their Cinderella run.

Eastern Conference Final Comes Down to Game 5

This leaves both the Isles and the Bolts in an interesting position tonight. In order for New York to force a Game 6, they must do what the Flyers did to them. This means taking advantage of every minor mistake the Lightning make. There have been many: they’ve given up plenty of penalties, breakaways and have let the Islanders spend minutes in their offensive zone. The issue is the Islanders haven’t used those opportunities, allowing the Lightning to take a sigh of relief after every slip-up. It does not help that Tampa Bay capitalizes on all of the Islanders mistakes as well.

If the Islanders can do what they do best — force their opponent to play Islanders hockey, take advantage of scoring opportunities, and play a tight defensive system — they will be able to make this an even series. It depends on if the Lightning are able to do the same.

John Smark