Tampa Bay Lightning Tickets - Lightning Beat Islanders 4-2

Ryan Malone scored two power play goals and had two assists

, Steven Stamkos and Vincent Lecavalier added second-period goals, and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the New York Islanders 4-2. Get Tampa Bay Lightning tickets and see Malone score a goal. Goalie Mike Smith made 36 saves for the Lightning and recorded his sixth win of the season. Tampa Bay went 2 for 4 on the power play and held the Islanders to only one goal in six advantages. The Lightning won for just the third time in 13 games (3-8-2) and handed New York its third straight loss.

Trent Hunter and Nate Thompson scored for the Islanders. Dwayne Roloson was sharp in between the pipes for New York, making 24 stops. Hunter opened up the scoring in the first period when he scored New York's first power play goal in 20 chances. Thompson made it 2-1 in the second period when he snapped a 61-game drought.

Stamkos, the No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft, tied the game 1-all at 6:20. It was his 21st goal of the season. Lecavalier made it 2-2, with a picture-perfect shot that Roloson likely never saw. Alex Tanguay set up the play when he fed a pass into the circle to Lecavalier, who went down on one knee and snapped off a shot for the equalizer. Lecavalier told the press "I just shot it as quick as possible. I didn't know it went in. It was a big goal. After that in the third, our power play really took over."

If it wasn't for Roloson, the Lightning could have taken a bigger lead early in the game. The goaltender dove back into the net after the puck took a wild bounce off the boards behind him and came out in front. Roloson made a magnificent save on Steve Downie's attempt at a wide-open net with the shaft of his stick. The acrobatic goaltender then stopped Todd Fedoruk's try on the rebound with his left skate. A video replay confirmed that the puck did not cross the line.

Roloson's luck ran out 2:48 into the third period when Malone cruised in the slot and swept in Stamkos' rebound, giving the Lightning a 3-2 advantage. The 6-foot-4, 224 pound left-winger struck again with 8:21 remaining. He recorded his 18th goal of the season after finishing off a three-way passing play with Martin St. Louis and Lecavalier.

Tampa Bay had been on an 0-5-2 road skid before winning at St. Louis on December 18. After the game, Lightning coach Rick Tocchet said, "The confidence is there...losing is contagious and winning is contagious. I am a big believer in being even keel." The coach continued to say it's reassuring when your team does "the right things" since it gives you "a better chance of winning."

New York has allowed 16 power-play goals on 35 chances in the past nine games. Thompson acknowledged that the Islanders have struggled on special teams lately. The forward admitted, "Special teams, again. It's kind of a broken record. We just needed to bear down in the third period, the game's tied. But we didn't execute."

by: Brent Warnken

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