Bo Horvat and Anthony Duclair each scored a goal and Ilya Sorokin carried a shutout deep into the third period Tuesday night for the host New York Islanders, who snapped Tampa Bay’s seven-game winning streak with a 2-1 victory in Elmont, N.Y.
Sorokin stopped the first 25 shots he faced and finished with 29 saves for the Islanders, who ended a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) and improved to 2-3-1 on their seven-game homestand that ends Thursday night against the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche.
Dominic James scored at the 16:26 mark of the third for the Lightning, who outscored opponents 30-10 during their winning streak. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded 21 saves.
The Lightning outshot the Islanders 9-7 during a scoreless first period before Horvat snapped the tie 55 seconds into the middle period. Horvat’s shot from the right faceoff circle bounced off Vasilevskiy and back to Horvat as he swooped into the slot. New York left winger Emil Heineman and Tampa Bay defenseman J.J. Moser tussled for position before a shooting lane opened and Horvat put the rebound home past a sprawling Vasilevskiy.
The Lightning collected 12 of the final 18 shots of the period, but they couldn’t collect the tying goal. Sorokin turned back Tampa Bay’s most serious threat with 7:25 left, when he corralled a point-blank backhand by Anthony Cirelli.
Duclair, who played for the Lightning during the 2023-24 season, doubled the lead following a chaotic sequence deep in the Tampa Bay zone 5:30 into the third.
Lightning right wing Pontus Holmberg got a glove on a puck chipped into the slot by Islanders defenseman Tony DeAngelo, but Holmberg whiffed trying to deliver a clearing pass. The puck bounced to New York center Calum Ritchie, who backhanded a pass to Duclair before the left wing beat Vasilevskiy on his stick side.
James ended Sorokin’s bid for his 25th career shutout — which would have tied him for first on the Islanders’ all-time list with Chico Resch — with 3:44 left when his angled shot from the goal line snuck under Sorokin’s left arm.
The Lightning pulled Vasilevskiy almost immediately thereafter to get an extra attacker on the ice, but they collected just two more shots.
–Field Level Media
