Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Preview Of Tonight's Lightning/Islanders Game

05/06/2016 at 2:43pm EDT

from Joe McDonald of ESPN,

It should be an interesting atmosphere on a Friday night at Barclays Center when the New York Islanders host the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 4 of this Eastern Conference second-round series. The Lightning hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven. Here’s what to watch for in the game, which starts at 7 p.m. ET.

Beating the beast: Lightning goalie Ben Bishop consumes a lot of real estate in the net and he’s tough to beat. The Islanders did a solid job of getting traffic to the net in Game 3 and it resulted in four goals for New York. Four wasn’t enough, however, as Tampa won 5-4 in overtime.

If the Islanders can limit Bishop’s vision and create secondary scoring chances off rebounds, New York should be able to light the lamp again. At the other end, Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss has been solid too. Some fans on social media thought maybe New York coach Jack Capuano would make a goalie change since the team trails in this series, but that’s not going to be the case. Even though Jaroslav Halak, who has been out since March 8 with a groin injury, has been practicing with the team, Greiss still gets the nod.

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added 2:49pm, from Nicholas J. Cotsonika of NHL.com,

Here are 5 Keys for Game 4:

1. BE BETTER THAN YOUR BEST

The Islanders felt they played their best game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Game 3, re-establishing their identity by throwing hits, generating traffic in front and getting pucks to the net. But they blew three leads and lost 5-4 in overtime. They feel they have to manage the puck better against a skilled, explosive opponent.

"They're the kind of team that can create a scoring chance out of almost nothing," Islanders center Frans Nielsen said Friday. "So you really have to do all the little things; good sticks, be on the right side of the guys. Every time there's a shot you help out on rebounds. … We played a great game, and we've just got to come out with the same effort and be a little better if we can. That's all we can do."

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About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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