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The New York Islanders dropped their first road game of the season tonight, falling 5-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In some notable moves, Josh Bailey was a healthy scratch for the Islanders, with Nikita Soshnikov joining the third line in his place. Sebastian Aho also entered the lineup for the first time this season after he was activated from injured reserve and Robin Salo was assigned to the AHL. Ilya Sorokin also got his fourth start of the year.
Final from Tampa. pic.twitter.com/kYr2kCabtc
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) October 23, 2022
Things got worse for the Islanders early in the second period, as Pierre-Edouard Bellemare got a pass out front to Corey Perry, who tapped it in to extend Tampa Bay’s lead. Later in the period though, Anthony Beauvillier took a pass on a rush and backhanded a shot that somehow got through Elliott, cutting the lead to one. As it looked like the period would end at 3-2, however, the Islanders gave up possession on a zone exit and Nick Paul came down the wing, beating Sorokin to double the lead with under a second to go in the period.
Though New York couldn’t convert on a power play early in the third period, shortly after it expired, Ryan Pulock intercepted a clearing attempt and walked in, before firing a shot past Elliott to make it a 4-3 game. New York continued to press and were outshooting the Lightning by quite a margin in the third period but with under six minutes to go, a puck popped out to Alex Killorn in front on a rush and he buried it, making it a two-goal game. The Islanders couldn’t come back after that, as they fell 5-3.
The Islanders actually put together a pretty strong game tonight, with a really good first period and a solid final frame. They outshot the Lightning by a 35-26 margin and really weren’t allowing a ton of chances throughout the game.
There were some avoidable chances given up that led to goals but Ilya Sorokin also wasn’t really on his game. While the Islanders didn’t get the win, it was still a very different game from their loss to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. The effort from New York but there but some untimely goals sunk them.
The Islanders will be right back in action tomorrow, as they face the Florida Panthers.
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