NHL

Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Islanders

· National Hockey League
Final
4 - 1

Guentzel, Vasilevskiy help Lightning beat Islanders 4-1 for 4th straight win

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New York Islanders: Game Highlights

Oliver Bjorkstrand scored his 20th of the season, Victor Hedman also scored and Nick Paul added an empty-netter for the Lightning. Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point each added two assists.

Bo Horvat scored a short-handed goal for New York and Ilya Sorokin made 19 saves as the Islanders lost their sixth straight (0-4-2), further diminishing their slim playoff hopes.

Guentzel scored the tiebreaking goal at 8:09 of the second period. Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech inexplicably left Guentzel alone and Kucherov delivered a beautiful pass to set up the go-ahead goal.

Hedman made it 3-1 about 2 1/2 minutes later, and Paul capped the scoring into an empty net with 3 1/2 minutes left in the third.

Takeaways Lightning: Vasilevskiy recorded his 36th win of the regular season, trailing only Connor Hellebuyck of NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets.

Islanders: Sorokin started four of the Islanders previous six losses, allowing 14 goals during that stretch.

Key Moment Horvat missed a one-timer during an Islanders two-man advantage roughly five minutes into the second period while the game was even at 1-1. Tampa Bay then scored twice in the period to take a 3-1 lead.

Key stat Kucherov’s two assists raised his season total to 111 points and reclaimed the NHL scoring lead. Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon is in second place with 110.

Up next Lightning visit Ottawa on Thursday, and Islanders host Minnesota on Friday.

Regular Season Series

TB wins series 2-1

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 8:46 Oliver Bjorkstrand Goal (20) Tip-In, assists: Darren Raddysh (30), Brayden Point (36)
Goal 1st Period 10:57 Bo Horvat Goal (25) Snap Shot, assists: Ryan Pulock (16)
Goal 2nd Period 8:09 Jake Guentzel Goal (38) Wrist Shot, assists: Nikita Kucherov (77), Brayden Point (37)
Goal 2nd Period 10:41 Victor Hedman Goal (14) Snap Shot, assists: Nikita Kucherov (78), Jake Guentzel (36)
Goal 3rd Period 16:29 Nick Paul Goal (22) Wrist Shot, assists: Anthony Cirelli (27), Erik Cernak (18)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/tb.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTB https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/nyi.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYI
21 Blocked Shots 13
14 Hits 25
1 Takeaways 1
24 Shots 29
0 Power Play Goals 0
4 Power Play Opportunities 4
0.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 1
0 Shootout Goals 0
23 Faceoffs Won 29
44.2 Faceoff Win Percent 55.8
13 Giveaways 16
6 Total Penalties 6
15 Penalty Minutes 15
New York Islanders New York Islanders Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Bo Horvat, C Out Dec 12
Kyle Palmieri, C Injured Reserve Nov 30
Tampa Bay Lightning Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Emil Lilleberg, D Day-To-Day Dec 13
Erik Cernak, D Injured Reserve Dec 13
Andrei Vasilevskiy, G Injured Reserve Dec 12
Victor Hedman, D Injured Reserve Dec 12

Game Information

UBS Arena

Location: Elmont, NY
Attendance: 14,827 | Capacity:

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Tampa Bay 18 11 39 3
Detroit 18 12 39 3
Boston 19 13 38 0
Montreal 16 11 36 4
Florida 16 13 34 2
Toronto 14 12 33 5
Ottawa 14 13 32 4
Buffalo 13 14 30 4

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 20 9 42 2
NY Islanders 19 11 41 3
Washington 18 10 40 4
Philadelphia 16 9 37 5
New Jersey 18 13 37 1
Pittsburgh 14 8 36 8
NY Rangers 16 13 36 4
Columbus 13 13 32 6
Full Standings