Leading 3-2, Ryan Pulock made a save in the final seconds to stop the Lightning from forcing overtime. The Islanders tied up the series 2-2 with the win. Pulock has played great so far in the playoffs, making tons of defensive stops, and has more goals than he did the entire regular season. But if the Islanders go on to win the series, fans will never forget his incredible diving save.

The first period was relatively uneventful, but the Islanders owned the second period. A snipe from Josh Bailey and rebound goals by Mathew Barzal and Matt Martin put the Islanders ahead 3-0. But the Lightning didn’t go down easily. Brayden Point and Tyler Johnson started a comeback, making it 3-2 in the third period. Andrei Vasilevskiy was pulled for an extra attacker with about 1:50 left, although they were already killing a penalty. Running out of time, the Lightning were down to their final push with 10 seconds remaining.

Behind the net, Ryan Pulock attempted to clear the puck around the boards with eight seconds left. Ondrej Palat stopped the clearing attempt along the boards next to the circle. Jean-Gabriel Pageau was nearby on defense, so Palat immediately worked the puck to Nikita Kucherov next to the goal. As Kucherov received Palat’s pass, Adam Pelech pressured him, and the puck bounced off Kucherov’s skate to a wide-open Ryan McDonagh at the top of the circle.

Seeing McDonagh open with the puck with four seconds remaining, Brock Nelson lunged at him to prevent a shot. It was chaos on the ice. With three seconds on the clock, McDonagh had the puck on his backhand facing away from the goal. Semyon Varlamov came way out of his net to try to make the stop. Perhaps Varlamov thought there was only about one second left, so he thought he could delay the shot and time would expire. Maybe he wanted to poke the puck off McDonagh’s stick.

However, Varlamov was unsuccessful. Leaping out of the goal did not hinder McDonagh’s backhand shot, and the puck trickled towards an empty net with enough time to get in. Quickly, Ryan Pulock noticed the puck rolling towards the vacant net. From beside the net, Pulock crouched to his knee, and his momentum carried him across the goal line. He laid his stick along the ice, as well as his empty right hand. With two and a half seconds left, Pulock’s right hand blocked the shot. The final two seconds ticked away, and the Islanders win Game 4.

Nassau Coliseum erupted, and the Islanders celebrated. When the Islanders faced the Lightning in the semifinals last year, they won just one of the first four games. In the rematch, the Islanders were able to enter Game 5 tied 2-2.

Even though Game 5 turned out to be a colossal disappointment, this was definitely one of the best moments in Islanders’ playoff history and worth remembering. Thanks again Ryan Pulock.

Ben Kule

Die-Hard Islanders fan and writer from Plainview, Long Island, NY. I have a passion and knowledge for this team and I enjoy sharing that with others