Islanders erase pair of two-goal deficits but lose to Lightning
Islanders defenseman Logan Stanley and Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Scott Sabourin fight in the second period of an NHL hockey game at UBS Arena on Saturday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The shift in energy from the 17,345 fans inside UBS Arena was palpable late in the second period of the Islanders’ game against the Lightning on Saturday night.
They erased their second two-goal deficit as Jean-Gabriel Pageau got a piece of Matthew Schaefer’s wrist shot — a goal that initially was credited to Schaefer in a vintage, captivating moment for the 19-year-old — to cut it to one and Brayden Schenn’s power-play tip-in goal in the final seconds of the period tied it.
But ultimately, a sluggish start was too much for the Islanders to overcome in a 5-3 loss.
Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel broke a 3-3 tie with the go-ahead goal — his second of three on the night — with 1:44 left, firing a shot underneath the stick of Ilya Sorokin. He added an empty-net goal 21 seconds later to ice the win.
The Islanders (2-3-0) trailed 2-0 after one period and 3-1 halfway through the second period.
“That’s a tough one,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “I liked how we handled the adversity of the night. Self-inflicted with our start. But over the last 40 minutes, we went toe-to-toe with a really, really good hockey team there and found a way to work back into that game.
“So it was a good measuring-stick game for us and we passed quite a few of the tests in my mind of how we have to play. You just have to do it for 60 minutes. You can’t spot a team like that two goals.”
Schenn’s goal tied it at 3 with less than seven seconds left in the second period. Schaefer’s shot from the point was blocked by Hagel, then picked up by Matias Maccelli. Maccelli dished it to Bo Horvat, who directed it in front of the net to Schenn, whose tip-in seemingly deflected off Erik Cernak before sneaking behind two-time Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Pageau’s goal came off a beauty of a play from Schaefer and cut the Islanders’ lead to 3-2 with 8:19 left in the second period. Schaefer skated to his right just in front of the blue line, put on the brakes, nearly juking Lightning center Anthony Cirelli out of his skates, shifted back to his left and rifled a shot that just nicked Pageau on its way past Vasilevskiy.
Schaefer turned to the crowd to let out a roar, and UBS Arena fans soon responded with the typical “Matt-hew Schae-fer!” chants the now-19-year-old defenseman heard throughout his 2025-26 Calder Trophy-winning season.
“I thought it was a great game from the second period on,” Schaefer said. “I think [if] we have a good start that first period, then I think it’s a different game, obviously. If we can get a stop there on that last goal, I think it’s a whole different game.”
Pageau’s goal came 57 seconds after Logan Stanley and Scott Sabourin dropped the gloves, a moment Schaefer and DeBoer credited as a spark.
The Islanders trailed 2-0 after one, but Tony DeAngelo cut their deficit in half with 13:33 left in the second period. Emil Heineman went off for tripping 18 seconds later — the third of five Islanders penalties, each in the first two periods — and the Lightning capitalized as Jake Guentzel’s second goal brought it to 3-1 with 12:06 remaining in the second period.
Guentzel opened the scoring with 14:15 left in a first period controlled by the Lightning. Tampa Bay had a 10-4 shot advantage after 20 minutes. Pageau turned the puck over in the Islanders’ zone with a backhanded fling directly to Guentzel, who had a clear look at the net and buried a wrist shot past Sorokin.
The Lightning (4-1) doubled their lead with 4:18 left in the first period on a goal by the speedy Hagel. Victor Hedman cleared the puck from behind the Lightning net and Hagel got behind Ryan Pulock and Ryan Pelech — each of whom had first-period tripping penalties — and chased it down.
“We played a really good team tonight and just didn’t show up quite on time,” DeBoer said. “But when we did show up, we went nose-to-nose with them.”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
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