NY Islanders at Tampa Bay Lightning 9/9/20 - NHL Picks & Predictions

The New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lighting are set to meet in game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals as they will play inside the Edmonton, Canada bubble. The New York Islanders were able to beat the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2nd round, but they weren’t prepared for the Lighting in game 1 as they got kicked around in an 8-2 defeat. The Islanders were able to receive a solid overall game from forwards Jordan Eberle (1 Goal, 1 Assist) and Andres Lee (2 Assists), but they were unable to capitalize on all their powerplay opportunities as they went a woeful 1 for 5 in a man-up situation. One of the positives that the Islanders could take out of this game was their ability to win faceoffs as they beat the Lightning 29-26 in that department.

The New York Islanders struggled to keep the puck out of their own net as the Tampa Bay Lighting scored 8 goals on 34 shot attempts. The Islanders starting goaltender Semyon Varlamov struggled in the crease as he allowed 5 goals on the 25 shots he faced which pushed his postseason GAA to a 2.22 and his save percentage to a .913. The Islanders were able to play physical with the Lightning as they outhit them 44-34.

The Tampa Bay Lightning were able to make light work out of the Boston Bruins in their previous series as they won 4-1, and they looked well rested against the Islanders in game 1 as they won 8-2. The Lightning have a dangerous group of forwards which proved to be true in this game as Nikita Kucherov contributed 1 goal and 4 assists while Brayden Point picked up 2 goals and 3 assists. The Tampa Bay Lightning were solid on the powerplay as they went 3 for 6, and that will be a key area for them moving forward.

The Tampa Bay Lightning were solid in defending their net as they held the New York Islanders to 2 goals on 24 shot attempts. The Lightning starting goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy had a solid game in the crease as he recorded 22 saves which pushed his postseason save percentage to a .930 and his GAA to an astonishing 1.92. The Lightning were able to put themselves in front of the puck a handful of times as they racked up a total of 14 blocked shots.