NHL

New York Islanders at Tampa Bay Lightning

· National Hockey League
New York Islanders
32-30-10
Final
3 - 5
Tampa Bay Lightning
43-25-5

Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov power the Lightning to a 5-3 win over the Islanders

New York Islanders vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: Game Highlights

Nick Perbix and Jake Guentzel also scored for the Lightning. Jonas Johansson made 35 stops.

Marc Gatcomb, Anthony DeAngelo and Ryan Pulock scored for the Islanders, who lost their fourth straight game. Ilya Sorokin made 19 saves.

The Lightning won their third straight and matched the idle Florida Panthers' 91 points atop the tight Atlantic Division, where the Toronto Maple Leafs entered Saturday night's game against the Los Angeles Kings just a point back.

Takeaways Islanders: At 32-20-10, New York is in fifth place in the Eastern Conference wild-card race with 74 points. The Islanders trail Ottawa (81), Columbus (75), Montreal (75) and the New York Rangers (75) with Saturday's slate of games remaining.

Lightning: After a rematch with the Islanders on Monday in the opener of a four-game trip, Tampa Bay is at Ottawa, Buffalo and the Rangers, through a week from Monday.

Key moment Kucherov and Perbix scored in the first 7:31 of the game to give the Lightning an early advantage. Point scored late in the first and second periods to extend the advantage to four goals before the Islanders clawed back with three unanswered goals in the first nine minutes of the third, making it 4-3. Guentzel's empty-netter sealed the win

Key stat Kucherov scored on the Islanders' first shot, at 2:02 of the first to fuel the fast start.

Up next The Lightning play at the Islanders on Tuesday. New York is at the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 2:02 Nikita Kucherov Goal (33) Snap Shot, assists: Victor Hedman (45), Jake Guentzel (35)
Goal 1st Period 7:31 Nick Perbix Goal (5) Snap Shot, assists: none
Goal 1st Period 17:57 Brayden Point Goal (37) Wrist Shot, assists: Ryan McDonagh (25), Nikita Kucherov (74)
Goal 2nd Period 19:43 Brayden Point Goal (38) Wrist Shot, assists: Nikita Kucherov (75), Brandon Hagel (48)
Goal 3rd Period 5:58 Ryan Pulock Goal (5) Slap Shot, assists: Anders Lee (23), Adam Boqvist (10)
Goal 3rd Period 7:47 Marc Gatcomb Goal (6) Snap Shot, assists: none
Goal 3rd Period 8:47 Anthony DeAngelo Goal (4) Wrist Shot, assists: Maxim Tsyplakov (23), Adam Pelech (18)
Goal 3rd Period 19:46 Jake Guentzel Goal (37) Wrist Shot, assists: Nikita Kucherov (76), Victor Hedman (46)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/nyi.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYI https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/tb.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTB
12 Blocked Shots 12
30 Hits 14
9 Takeaways 8
38 Shots 24
1 Power Play Goals 0
2 Power Play Opportunities 0
50.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
35 Faceoffs Won 27
56.5 Faceoff Win Percent 43.5
14 Giveaways 14
0 Total Penalties 2
0 Penalty Minutes 4
Tampa Bay Lightning Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Brandon Hagel, LW Day-To-Day Dec 15
Emil Lilleberg, D Injured Reserve Dec 15
Ryan McDonagh, D Injured Reserve Dec 15
Andrei Vasilevskiy, G Injured Reserve Dec 15
Erik Cernak, D Injured Reserve Dec 13
New York Islanders New York Islanders Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Bo Horvat, C Day-To-Day Dec 14
Kyle Palmieri, C Injured Reserve Nov 30

Game Information

Benchmark International Arena

Location: Tampa, FL
Attendance: 19,092 | Capacity:

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 21 9 44 2
NY Islanders 19 11 41 3
Washington 18 10 40 4
Philadelphia 16 9 38 6
Pittsburgh 14 8 37 9
New Jersey 18 14 37 1
NY Rangers 16 14 36 4
Columbus 13 13 32 6

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Tampa Bay 18 12 39 3
Detroit 18 12 39 3
Montreal 17 11 38 4
Boston 19 14 38 0
Florida 17 13 36 2
Ottawa 15 13 34 4
Toronto 14 12 33 5
Buffalo 14 14 32 4
Full Standings