EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Islanders ahead Jordan Eberle knew precisely what to do upon seeing teammate and captain Anders Lee pounce on the free puck as soon as Tampa Bay’s Kevin Shattenkirk whiffed on his shot from the proper level.

Eberle raced up the center, drove to the web and transformed Lee’s go to cap a two-on-one break and preserve the Islanders’ playoff hopes alive. The aim, scored 12:30 into the second extra time, sealed a 2-1 win over the Lightning in Recreation 5 of their Jap Convention ultimate sequence Tuesday evening.

”Issues occur fast on the market. You have to react. You see the fanned shot. You see Leesy poke it by,” mentioned Eberle, who scored his second winner of the postseason. ”You’ve got performed this sport a very long time, when you’ve got odd-man rushes and a chance is about to return. Leesy made a heck of a play to get the puck over to me.”

The sixth-seeded Islanders minimize the second-seeded Lightning sequence result in 3-2, with Recreation 6 scheduled for Thursday evening. The winner will advance to the Stanley Cup Remaining and face West champion Dallas, which eradicated Vegas in 5 video games on Monday evening.

Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock additionally scored and Semyon Varlamov capped a 36-save outing by skating the size of the ice and making a head-first dive into the pile of gamers mobbing Eberle.

”I do not know. I simply jumped as a result of I used to be so excited for us,” Varlamov mentioned of his celebration. ”After we scored that aim, it was simply a variety of feelings going by in that second. I used to be simply completely happy for the blokes, so completely happy for us. Now we have an opportunity to proceed to play.”

Reduction had one thing to do with it, too, in a sport the Islanders have been restricted to 24 pictures, and not more than six in a interval. And so they weathered killing off a four-minute double-minor for high-sticking referred to as towards Anthony Beauvillier with 1:23 left in regulation.

The aim got here off the Lightning successful a faceoff to the left of the Islanders internet. The puck was drawn again to Shattenkirk, who fanned on the shot. It dribbled to Lee, who banked the puck off the sideboards to get round Shattenkirk.

”It took the celebrities aligning on a fanned shot for them to get the break they bought,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper mentioned. ”We had alternatives to place the sport away.”

Victor Hedman scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 22 pictures.

The Lightning have been minus co-leading playoff scorer Brayden Level, who had a aim and help in a 4-1 win in Recreation Four after lacking a 5-Three loss in Recreation Three with an undisclosed harm. Tampa Bay’s different co-leader, Nikita Kucherov, was shaken up eight minutes into the second interval Tuesday, however returned and had a number of scoring possibilities within the third interval and extra time.

Cooper referred to as it ”exhausting to inform proper now” as as to whether Level will have the ability to play Thursday.

One factor Hedman was certain of, is figuring out the Lightning will bounce again.

”It got here down to 1 play. It is robust for us clearly, however that is hockey,” Hedman mentioned. ”It is the way you reply to this that is going to outline you as a workforce. I am not anxious about how our group’s going to reply to this.”

The Islanders opened the scoring 15:41 in on Pulock’s power-play aim, simply their second in 15 alternatives this sequence.

The Lightning responded with Hedman tying the sport Four minutes into the second interval.

Tampa Bay’s Carter Verhaeghe had a aim overturned 10:01 into the second interval, when the Islanders challenged the play for being offside. Replays confirmed Tampa Bay’s Cedric Paquette clearly entered New York’s zone nicely forward of the puck.

The Lightning dropped to 4-1 in extra time video games this postseason, together with a 5-Four 5OT win over Columbus in Recreation 1 of their first-round sequence.

The Islanders proceed to persevere in being the one workforce left that performed a best-of-five preliminary spherical sequence, and confirmed indicators of fatigue in opening the sequence towards Tampa Bay with an 8-2 loss.

New York’s offense has fizzled in managing simply 11 targets towards Tampa Bay, together with a 5-Three win in Recreation 3. The Islanders had mixed for 28 targets of their earlier eight video games.

Coach Barry Trotz shook up his strains Tuesday, shifting Cal Clutterbuck to the Islanders’ high line alongside Lee and Barzal. Clutterbuck took the spot of Eberle, who opened the sport alongside Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Matt Martin.

Story continues

”Our guys did not waver – they simply stored grinding,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz mentioned. ”We did not hand over and that is an excellent signal for transferring ahead.”

NOTES: Isles D Johnny Boychuk returned after sustaining a head harm within the third interval of a playoff-opening 2-1 win over Florida on Aug. 1. … Boychuk had an eventful first interval. He was doubled over in ache after getting struck by Nikita Kucherov’s shot six minutes in. Within the ultimate minute of the primary interval, Boychuk’s skate blade broke, and he had issue attending to the bench, after blocking Hedman’s shot from the left level. … Hedman’s aim was his eighth, essentially the most by a defenseman within the playoffs since Brian Leetch scored 11 for the 1994 Cup-winning New York Rangers.

UP NEXT

Recreation 6 is Thursday evening at Eight p.m. EDT.

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