|
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning will attempt to even their Eastern Conference second-round series with the New York Islanders when puck drops for Game 2 on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET at Amalie Arena. Here’s what to watch for: Masked men: Lightning goalie Ben Bishop didn't have a strong performance in Game 1 and was pulled at 8:59 of the second period after he allowed four goals on 13 shots. He was replaced with backup Andrei Vasilevskiy. As you would expect, Tampa is not questioning Bishop’s ability to bounce back in Game 2. "He’s really matured into an NHL goalie," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Until you’ve been pulled in the NHL, you’ve gone through a tough stretch and how you’re going to handle that. He's just one of those guys, it’s not too high, it’s not too low. It’s stay the course and understand he has so much confidence in his game and we have confidence in him. The longer you’re together as a group, the more situations you’re put in, it just helps him. This is definitely not a situation." Cooper explained he approached Bishop on the bench during the third period and it was “game on.” “He could have gone right back in and so that’s what you’ve got to love about him,” Cooper said. “Was he ticked off that he was pulled and how everything went? Sure he was, but he was mad at the situation. He wants to jump back in and rectify the situation and that’s what he done really well as we’ve seen in the playoffs before.” At the other end of the ice, the Islanders’ Thomas Greiss was solid in Game 1. He finished with 33 saves and made several timely stops during Tampa’s late charge in the third period. Rebound control will once again be key for Greiss in Game 2 as the Islanders expect a strong pushback from the Lightning. Injury updates: Lightning forward Erik Condra and defenseman Matt Carle both remain day-to-day with undisclosed injuries. Condra exited Game 1 after being hit back-first into the corner boards. Carle logged a total of 17:37 of ice time in Game 1. Forwards J.T. Brown is out for Game 2 with an upper-body injury. Tampa captain Steven Stamkos continues to rehab after having surgery to remove a blood clot near his collarbone on April 4. With Tampa’s blue line depleted, it’s possible defenseman Luke Witkowski, who spent the season with Syracuse in the AHL, could be in the lineup for Game 2 on Saturday.  Seeing triple: Tampa’s "Triplets Line" of Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov could be together again. Periodically during the postseason, Cooper has reunited that line. Based on Friday’s practice, it’s likely those three could be back together for Game 2. That combo was outstanding for the Lightning during the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs. Cooper said he’s not locked into keeping them together. “No,” he said. “There’s a bunch of different guys that have had success together and you’re just trying to find the chemistry of what works. They’ve proven in the past that they can work together and hopefully it continues.” In Game 1, Alex Killorn played the left side, along with Johnson and Kucherov. Palat played with Vladislav Namestnikov and Jonathan Drouin. Strong start: The first five minutes of Game 1, Tampa was the better team. The Islanders created chances and were opportunistic. The third period was all Lightning. If not for timely saves by Greiss, Tampa probably would have tied the game in the final 20 minutes. It’s that kind of push the Lightning need to start and finish Game 2. The Islanders expect a bounce-back performance by their opponent and coach Jack Capuano said his team will make the proper adjustments and react accordingly. "The game plan is scripted. It’s planned. Now it’s a matter of making sure we’re doing the right things," he said. "This series, you can’t stand around. You’ve got to be in constant motion. ... We haven’t accomplished anything. It takes four to win this thing."
|
