NHL teams
Joe McDonald, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

W2W4: Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Islanders, Game 4

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- It should be an interesting atmosphere on a Friday night at Barclays Center when the New York Islanders host the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 4 of this Eastern Conference second-round series. The Lightning hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven. Here’s what to watch for in the game, which starts at 7 p.m. ET.

Beating the beast: Lightning goalie Ben Bishop consumes a lot of real estate in the crease and he’s tough to beat. The Islanders did a solid job of getting traffic to the net in Game 3 and it resulted in four goals. Four wasn’t enough, however, as Tampa won 5-4 in overtime.

If the Islanders can limit Bishop’s vision and create secondary scoring chances off rebounds, they should be able to light the lamp again. At the other end, Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss has been solid too. Some fans on social media thought maybe New York coach Jack Capuano would make a goalie change since the team trails in this series, but that’s not going to be the case. Even though Jaroslav Halak, who has been out since March 8 with a groin injury, has been practicing with the team, Greiss still gets the nod for Game 4.

Nasty boys: The Islanders brought their fast and physical style of play to the edge in Game 3 and it would have resulted in a victory had the Lightning not tied the game with 38.4 seconds remaining in regulation and won in OT. Although Tampa Bay once again showed its resiliency, the Islanders need to play exactly the way they did in Game 3 if they can give themselves a chance to tie this series. The nastiness has increased, and Islanders forward Frans Nielsen isn’t surprised.

“It always does that,” he said. “You start off feeling each other out a little bit and then, I know it’s hard work, but you’ve got to find that hatred toward the ones you’re playing against. It comes when you see the same guys every night for two weeks. When you find that hatred, it’s what makes you bring a little extra and dig in a little more. It’s intense out there. I don’t think it’s dirty, but guys are playing hard and it’s fun.”

Ready to roll: Any good team, especially in the playoffs, has the ability to roll four lines. Depth is critical, and Islanders coach Capuano believes his fourth line of Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck is one of the most valuable lines he’s coached. Capuano doesn’t consider that trio a fourth line because he’s been able to match it up against opponents’ top lines.

“I think it’s huge,” Martin said of his line’s contributions. “We’ve had some long playoff games this year, a couple of double-overtime games and a couple of overtime games, so late in a game, late in a series the ability to play four lines, you really start to notice other teams getting tired. It’s important to be effective. Our coaching staff shows a lot of trust in us to go out there against anyone, and that motivates us to go out there and do the job. So far it’s paid off. We got a big game [Friday] to try to win.”

At times during a tight game, that line might see limited minutes, but Capuano hasn’t hesitated to put that line on the ice for an offensive-zone faceoff.

Lineup changes: Capuano admitted there could be lineup changes for the Islanders in Game 4. It appears that defenseman Ryan Pulock, who has missed three playoff games with an upper-body injury, will be back. That means fellow defenseman Marek Zidlicky will likely be a scratch. It also looks like forward Ryan Strome will return for Game 4 in place of Alan Quine. For Tampa, defenseman Matt Carle, who has missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury, could return for Game 4. He will be a game-time decision.

Injury updates: Tampa defenseman Anton Stralman (leg) and Steven Stamkos (blood clot) both skated during the team’s optional morning skate. Lightning forward J.T. Brown, who has been sidelined since Game 2 of the first-round series against the Detroit Red Wings with an upper-body injury, has practiced the last two days and appears close to a return.

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