The New York Islanders forced a decisive game against Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay crushed the New York Islanders 8-0 in the last semifinal meeting, which meant a 3-2 lead in matches and a victory from the final.

It started well in the sixth game as well, after Brayden Point gave the Florida team the lead with 1-0 – his ninth game in a row as a goal scorer – played by Anthony Cirelli. Cirelli then extended the lead in the second period.

But as so many times before during the playoffs, the Islanders came back. Jordan Eberle reduced in the second period, and Scott Mayfield put the equalizer just over halfway into the third. 2–2 stood for the final signal, which meant extra time.

There, Tampa Bay was careless in the defensive game, and Anthony Beauvillier broke a pass and was able to decide on his own with the 3-2 goal, just over a minute in.

– I honestly do not know what happened. I saw that it went in and it just turned black, says the goal scorer at the interview immediately after the match.

After the final whistle, the triumphant crowd threw in objects, and Beauvillier says he thinks he was hit by a beer can.

– We tried to stick to what we do best. We are a hard working group that is resilient. WE found a way to win, which is great for us. It’s crazy here in the arena, and now we have to go to Tampa for the seventh match, he says.

Tampa Bays Victor Hedman was on the ice when the decisive goal was scored, and was silent after the match.

– There were two great teams. We are here for a reason. We know that it would not be an easy task. Now we just have to run the line. We get a home match and get to play in front of our fans. We will not take it lightly, go out and fight hard and play the best match of the year, he says.

Some Tampa Bay fans may be concerned about the fact that the playoffs’ top scorer, right-back Nikita Kucherov, with five goals and 22 assists so far, left the ice in the first period with what appeared to be an injury to his arm.

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