The Tampa Bay Lightning are trying to avoid a collapse in their semifinals series against the New York Islanders. The Bolts entered the series as the favorites in the matchup and even took 2-1 and 3-2 leads after three and five games. respectively. They had a chance to take out Barry Trotz's pesky Islanders squad Wednesday night on the road and looked as though they were going to do that when they held a 2-0 lead at one point in the second period of Game 6. Then three unanswered Isles goals later and the series is now headed to a Game 7 — with or without the Lightning's best player Nikita Kucherov.
The Lightning's star was on the ice in Game 6 for just 46 seconds, as he got hurt by a Scott Mayfield hit. Mayfield, of course, would later figure in the game when he scored the game-tying goal that sent the contest to overtime.
As of the moment, Nikita Kucherov's status for Game 7 remains up in the air. Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper just said Thursday morning that they still have no idea about Kucherov's availability, per Elliotte Friedman.
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1408059263860174857
It would be a disappointment for the Lightning, to say the least, if they won't have the 2019 Hart Trophy winner on the ice in Game 7, but this is also the same team that won 36 games in the regular season without Kucherov. Granted that the Stanley Cup Playoffs is a different beast, the Lightning still have plenty of weapons to throw at New York.
The first line will continue to feature Brayden Point, who's been sensational in the postseason. In fact, he has scored a point nine games in a row, including the one he fired in the first period of Game 6. Even though the Bolts were outshot in that game, 28-24, and played mostly without the services of Kucherov, they recorded seven High Danger Scoring Chances to just three by New York.
I know Game 6 is fresh on the mind but hard not to look ahead to Game 7 and think that @TBLightning are 5-0 following a loss in this year’s playoffs and 12-0 going back to the start of 2020.
Game. 7. Here We. Go!#GoBolts #Isles #StanleyCup
— Jamison Coyle (@JamisonCoyle) June 24, 2021
Moreover, the Lightning's special teams continue to impress, holding the Islanders scoreless in Game 6 in three power-play chances, with one being a 5-on-3 man advantage. So far in the series, the Isles are just 1 of 16 on the power play. Andrei Vasilevskiy, despite what happened Thursday, is dependable between the pipes, with a 2.21 GAA and .925 SV%.
Nikita Kucherov playing in Game 7 will be a huge boost for the Bolts, but his team has more than enough to take care of business on Friday at Amalie Arena.
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