Lightning pass test against three straight Stanley Cup Playoff opponents

TAMPA -- The Tampa Bay Lightning completed a three-game homestand against teams they defeated in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season with a
4-1 victory
against the New York Islanders at Amalie Arena on Monday.

The defending champions went 2-0-1 against the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers and Islanders and extended their point streak to eight games (6-0-2) that started with a 5-1 victory at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 26. The Lightning, who lost 2-1 in overtime to the Hurricanes last Tuesday and defeated the Panthers 3-2 in overtime Saturday, have earned points in nine of their past 10 (6-1-3).
"If you told me that at the beginning of the three games, we would have taken that all day," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "Those are the teams you're going to end up seeing at the end. If you want to get there, you have to beat these teams.
"When you're at home, you definitely have to take those points, and we did that."
The ability to keep the puck out of their net has played a huge role in the Lightning's run. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves against the Islanders and is 5-0-3 since Oct. 23. He has allowed two or fewer goals in seven straight starts after giving up three or more in four of his first five this season.
The players in front of Vasilevskiy are performing too; Tampa Bay limited New York's ability to generate quality scoring chances and killed all three Islanders power plays. The Lightning penalty kill was 8-for-9 during the three-game homestand.
"We're defending," Cooper said. "You're giving yourself a chance to get points, and that's what we're doing. They haven't all been pretty, but the boys are defending and if we're not there, 'Vas' is up to the task to make the save.
"If we're going to go anywhere, we have to defend. The guys, we've just gotten better at it. It's not perfect. Defending's hard, but it's a choice. Everything's without the puck when you defend, and so that's when structure does come into it, but guys have bought into what they have to do, and what we need to do to win and it's working for us."

Lightning forward Mathieu Joseph, who tied it 1-1 at 3:16 of the first period, 23 seconds after Islanders center Mathew Barzal opened the scoring, said he and his teammates have done a better job helping Vasilevskiy during the point streak.
"We limited, I think, odd-man rushes, I think a lot," Joseph said. "I think turnovers were killing us a little bit maybe earlier in the season, [but] those three games, I thought we managed the puck pretty well and we stayed in structure a little bit more. 'Vasy' had some huge saves in that stretch, and I thought we just played a little bit more disciplined and the results are there.
"We didn't start the way we wanted to start at home, I would say, earlier in the season. I thought these three games, we showed up and it was good to get those points for sure."
The Lightning get back on the road Thursday for one game at the Philadelphia Flyers, then will play four straight at home. It's an opportunity to keep pace in an Atlantic Division that is primed to be competitive throughout the season. Tampa Bay is in third place, behind Florida and Toronto Maple Leafs.
"We like the way we stick up for each other, we've got our foundation all over the ice," defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "We've got enough games now, we've seen enough examples of what to do, what not do. Now, it's about just continuing to buy in, be consistent here and bring that kind of energy and intensity throughout the rest of the season here."