Sunday marked the first exit of the second round, as the New York Islanders bowed out to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.
NHL playoff scores 2016: Islanders the first to fall out of the second round
The Lightning are headed back to the Eastern Conference Final thanks to a definitive Game 5 win.
Despite lighting up the Panthers in an exhilarating opening series, the Islanders were just outmatched by a faster and more defensively sound Lightning squad. Tampa Bay shook off the rust from their Game 1 loss and turned it into four straight wins to catapult them to their second straight Eastern Conference Final appearance.
Even without Steven Stamkos and Anton Stralman, the Lightning were able to pump out scoring from depth players such as Brian Boyle and Vladislav Namestnikov. And where the Islanders could once exploit a young Panthers blue line, the Lightning were able to counter with stud defenseman Victor Hedman, who played almost 30 minutes a game in the series.
By the finale of the series, the Islanders looked completely shut down and sometimes overwhelmed by the quick counter punches of the Lightning. New York was not able to get many second chances on Vezina Trophy nominee Ben Bishop down the line, which made his job much easier after being pulled in Game 1.
In the end, the more playoff experienced team prevailed. The Lightning were able to shut down the Islanders' biggest players that contributed to their successes in the first round. Not only that, Tampa Bay has found a rhythm without their best players in Stamkos and Stralman, with the former having the potential to return in the next round to make an already electric Lightning team more explosive.
Scores
Lightning 4, Islanders 0
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3 things we learned
1. Tavares was kept in check
After lighting up the Panthers with four goals and five assists, Islanders captain John Tavares was held to just two points in this series, with both coming in Game 1. A big reason for his disappearance? The strong defense of Hedman, who was picked second overall behind Tavares in the 2009 draft. Speaking of Hedman ...
2. Hedman's pair the difference for Tampa Bay
The 25-year-old defenseman has stepped up tremendously in the absence of Stralman. With an average ice time of 28 minutes this series, Hedman has thrived in the No. 1 defenseman role for the Lightning. Not only did he shut down the Islanders' game changer, he scored four goals — including two in Game 5 — and four assists in the series after putting up just one helper vs. Detroit.
3. The frustration was clear for the Islanders
New York lost a bit of their composure as the game spiraled out of their hands. The Islanders took seven penalties and gave the Lightning five chances on the power play, which they used to score their third goal of the game in the second period. The emotions were clearly hard to control across the board as time ran out on the Islanders season.
damn you, velveeta pic.twitter.com/cdlRfPgJkh
— Stephanie (@myregularface) May 8, 2016
Pretty symbolic of the Islanders’ playoff hopes pic.twitter.com/6d9Qzmd1Sv
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) May 8, 2016
Impact Moment
Ryan Callahan laid down a huge — but clean — hit on Nick Leddy that caused a bit of a kerfuffle in the second period.
Callahan hit on Leddy pic.twitter.com/G3Lt51iPvE
— Stephanie (@myregularface) May 8, 2016
Tweets from Tony
Remember Tony, AKA @soloucity on Twitter, who fell in love with hockey during the Blues/Blackhawks Game 7? We're dedicating a section in our recaps to the gems of his Twitter account during the playoffs.
Bolts https://t.co/ajKIgFGRqY
— Tony X. (@soIoucity) May 8, 2016
— Tony X. (@soIoucity) May 8, 2016
Tony knows all!
Stat of the Night
.@heds77 has posted 7 points through 5 games in #TBLvsNYI (3-4—7), the most by a @TBLightning defenseman in a playoff series. @EliasSports
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 8, 2016
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