Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 New York Islanders
It was an incredible game in Tampa Bay as the Lightning held on for a 5-3 win over the visiting New York Islanders.
The hosts were in complete control in the first period, as Nikita Kucherov, Nick Perbix, and Brayden Point put them up 3-0. Remarkably, the Islanders outshot them 18-15 in the opening 20 minutes, but they could not find the back of the net.
Point added his second of the game at the end of the second period, and the Lightning were well on their way to a win.
Things took a dramatic change in the third period though. In the space of two minutes and 49 seconds, New York scored thrice to make things very interesting. Ryan Pulock got his team on the board via a power play 5:58 in, before Marc Gatcomb added a second. When Anthony DeAngelo found the third with 11:13 left in the game, there was belief for the Islanders that they could turn this around.
Seventeen of the guests' 60 shots came in the last 20 minutes. Unfortunately for them, they just could not find the leveller. Jake Guentzel added one final goal for the Lightning to seal the deal a few seconds before the end.
Tampa now go level with the Florida Panthers on 91 points as they won their third straight. They are all but assured a spot in the postseason following that win. As for the Islanders, now losers of their last four, they fall further behind in the playoff race in the Eastern Conference.
Detroit Red Wings 2-1 Boston Bruins
In a game with few goals, the Detroit Red Wings kept their playoff hopes alive with a 2-1 win over Original Six rivals the Boston Bruins.
They went in front five minutes and 37 seconds into the match as Marco Kasper skated in from the blue line and fired it home. That was the only goal of an opening period filled with penalties.
It only took the Red Wings 53 seconds in the second period to double their advantage. Lucas Raymond converted his effort on a power play to put his side up 2-0.
Despite outshooting their opponents at this stage, the Bruins found themselves behind. However, it did not take them long to restore the one-goal deficit, as Morgan Geekie scored on a man advantage to make it 2-1. That proved to be the final goal of the game, as neither team managed to make any headway after that.
It proves to be a vital win for Detroit as they now go up to 74 points from 73 games. That keeps them in the playoff hunt in the East. However, they are still in 12th spot, three points behind the New York Rangers. As for Boston, their seventh on the spin practically ends their hopes of a postseason berth as they sit eight points back of eighth place.