By ,
Published November 18, 2017
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Anders Lee scored twice and the New York Islanders held on after nearly blowing a four-goal lead, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 Saturday night.
John Tavares had a goal and two assists, and Andrew Ladd and Brock Nelson also scored for the Islanders (11-6-2), who ended Tampa Bay's five-game winning streak and handed the Lightning just their third regulation loss (15-3-2). Josh Bailey had three assists and Thomas Griess stopped 36 shots to improve to 4-0-1 in his last five starts.
Yanni Gourde had two goals and Ondrej Palat had the other for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy had 27 saves.
Lee scored during a two-goal first and added a power-play goal at 1:05 of the third as the Islanders went ahead 4-0.
After Gourde and Palat scored 13 seconds apart to cut their deficit in half at 3:26 of the final period, Gourde pulled the Lightning to 4-3 with 3:36 left.
Tavares sealed the Islanders' win with an empty-netter with 22 seconds to go.
Tavares assisted on Ladd's goal 51 seconds in, and set up Lee's goal that made it 2-0 at 10:25 of the first with a nifty backhand pass through the slot into the left circle.
Lee's goal came shortly after Vasilevskiy turned aside a breakaway shot and rebound attempt by Nelson.
Nelson put the Islanders up 3-0 midway through the second after coming out of the right corner and eluding defenseman Jake Dotchin.
Tampa Bay stars Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov were both held without a point for just the third time this season.
NOTES: Islanders RW Cal Clutterbuck (illness) didn't play. … Tampa Bay swept the three-game season series in 2016-17, outscoring the Islanders 14-2. … It's just the fourth time the Lightning trailed after the first period (1-1-2) this season. … Tavares has 19 assists and 29 points in 27 games against the Lightning. … Tampa Bay entered outscoring opponents 54-28 during the first two periods.
Islanders: At Carolina on Sunday night.
Lightning: Host Chicago on Wednesday night to complete a three-game homestand.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/lightnings-3rd-period-rally-not-enough-to-overtake-visiting-islanders