Well, at least the Tampa Bay Lightning finally scored more than one goal against Ilya Sorokin. After giving up two early goals, the Bolts battled back with goals from Darren Raddysh (on the power play) and J.J. Moser to tie the New York Islanders. Overtime solved nothing, and Sorokin stopped two of the Lightning’s three shootout attempts while Mathew Barzal and Emil Heineman were able to slip pucks past Jonas Johansson to earn the extra points in a 3-2 victory.

With the win the Islanders swept the season series from the Lightning. What more do we need to say other than stats meant absolutely nothing in this series:

Shot attempts – 220-127 – Lightning

Shots on goal – 97-60 – Lightning

Expected goals – 12.86 – 7.87 – Lightning

Scoring Chances – 121-58 – Lightning

High-Danger Chances – 64-23 – Lightning

Unfortunately, only one category really counts, and that’s the one the Islanders won:

Goals – 6-3

The Islanders scored twice in the first period with goals by Mathew Schaefer (on the power play) and Calum Ritchie roughly seven minutes apart. Raddysh cut the deficit in half midway through the second period while Moser leveled the score early in the third. Despite another game played with a territorial advantage, the Bolts just couldn’t get a lead against the Islanders defense and Sorokin, who finished with 32 saves. After a rocky start, Johansson finished strong, making 15 saves on 17 shots.

Brandon Halverson made a brief (6 seconds) appearance when Johansson had a skate issue. Because the sun rose today, another member of the team appeared to get injured. This time it was Emil Lilleberg who left the ice after an awkward hit along the boards with about three minutes to play in the second period and didn’t return.

After the choppy start, the Lightning turned things around, outshooting the Islanders 17-1 in the second period. Unfortunately, Sorokin and the post limited the damage. It was more of the same in the third with Raddysh ringing the iron with roughly five seconds left in regulation. Sorokin’s best save of the game might have been on his own teammate. Shortly after Moser tied the game, Brandon Hagel came in on a rush and his centering pass hit Jonathan Drouin’s stick and re-directed on net. Sorokin flashed out a pad to make the stop and keep the game tied.

In the end, the Lightning return from their four-game road trip with five points. They’ll rest up on Sunday and then host the Florida Panthers on Monday in what should be a barn burner.