Islanders strike quickly, pin first division loss on Lightning

The New York Islanders scored three times in the first five minutes, the fourth line scored twice, and Thomas Greiss made 38 saves in a 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Sunday.

Brock Nelson, Cal Clutterbuck, Devon Toews, Casey Cizikas and Josh Bailey scored for the Islanders, who won for the 11th time in 14 games, moved to 17-7-4 against the Eastern Conference and became the first Metropolitan Division team to beat Tampa Bay in 13 games this season.

Greiss earned his 13th win, Matt Martin had two assists, and linemates Cizikas and Clutterbuck added assists as the Islanders broke a stretch of playing in five straight one-goal contests.

The Islanders are 6-0-0 in the second game of back-to-backs.

Ryan McDonagh scored Tampa Bay's goal, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves. The Lightning had their three-game winning streak end and are 21-3-1 in their last 25.

Both clubs were playing second games of back-to-back sets, and the Islanders scored three times in its first five shots in the opening 4:43 against Vasilevskiy.

The Islanders' 24th-ranked power play scored just 81 seconds into the game. Nelson fired in his 16th goal for the lead, and the tally was his first on the man advantage.

New York's fourth line scored at 4:27 when Clutterbuck, who hadn't scored a goal since Nov. 15, batted one in from Martin's feed.

Sixteen seconds later, Toews scored on a slapper from the left circle for his third goal in 10 games since making his NHL debut on Dec. 23 in Dallas.

Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman collided with an official early in the second period, left the game and did not return.

The fourth line chipped in again for a 4-0 edge in the second period when Cizikas scored his 11th goal, barely beating Vasilevskiy at the near post, and Martin and Clutterbuck picked up assists.

McDonagh finally put Tampa Bay on the board when he slipped his fifth goal past Greiss to make it 4-1 as the Lighting outshot New York 22-14 in the period.

Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper opted to pulled Vasilevskiy and skate 6-on-5 with just under 10 minutes for most of the third period, and Bailey added a late empty-net goal.

--Field Level Media

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)