ELMONT, N.Y. — Championship teams aren’t remembered for how they play in Game 82. In fact, the Lightning lost their final regular-season game before both of their back-to-back Stanley Cup runs.
Legacies are built by what teams do after the regular season ends, when the pressure builds. But that didn’t mean that the Lightning’s regular-season finale Friday night against the Islanders wasn’t extremely important.
The Lightning had some incredible postseason battles with the Islanders the past two offseasons, and a season-ending date with New York seemed to be just what Tampa Bay needed to ramp up its intensity.
The Lightning rallied from two goals down after two periods to tie the game and went on to beat the Islanders, 6-4, ending the season with seven wins in their last nine games.
Steven Stamkos had a hat trick, including the eventual game-winner with 2:10 remaining. He scored the go-ahead goal less than seven minutes earlier, after Lighting goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made a game-saving stop at the other end.
After the game, the Lightning traveled to Toronto, where they will open the postseason against the Maple Leafs Monday at Scotiabank Arena.
Tampa Bay finished third in the Atlantic Division, three points ahead of Boston, which lost 5-2 Friday in Toronto.
Coming off a lackadaisical 5-2 loss Thursday in Columbus in which head coach Jon Cooper questioned his team’s effort, the Lightning went into the postseason on a better note.
Corey Perry scored just over a minute into the third period to trim Tampa Bay’s deficit to 3-2. He benefitted from a slick touch pass from Nikita Kucherov in front to score his second power-play goal in as many games.
Defenseman Ryan McDonagh tied the game midway through the period, jumping between the circles and shooting a puck that leaked past Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin into the net.
Stamkos, who reached the 40-goal mark earlier in the game, then scored on a wrister from in front that beat Sorokin top-shelf gloveside. The Lightning captain lifted his arms in part-celebration, part-relief. He scored his third goal with 2:10 left in the game.
After Zdeno Chara brought the Islanders back to within 5-4 with less than a minute remaining, Brandon Hagel scored to preserve Tampa Bay’s victory.
Vasilevskiy was marvelous in his final tuneup before the playoffs, finishing with 33 saves on 37 shots.
