Lightning -180
Islanders vs. Lightning Game 5: Tampa Will Take 3-2 Series Lead (Archive)
The New York Islanders-Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup playoff semifinal series is tied 2-2 as it heads back to Florida for Game 5 on Monday night. The Bolts are heavy favorites. Which way to lean at BMR’s top-rated sportsbooks?
New York Islanders vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Monday, June 21, 2021 – 08:00 PM EDT – at Amalie Arena
There is no NBA playoff action Monday night and a lighter MLB schedule, so I expect Islanders-Lightning Game 5 to perhaps do more betting action at BMR’s top-rated books than any of the first four games in the series. NBC Sports Network has the coverage.
With the series tied 2-2, the Lightning are -215 favorites on the NHL futures odds to win the series – which I think they do – and the Islanders +185. Tampa Bay winning in six games is +175 with Lightning in seven at +200, Islanders in seven at +350 and Iles in six at +375. The series total games prop is 6.5, with the under a -130 favorite.
With Montreal giving the formerly favored Vegas Golden Knights fits in the other semifinal, the Lightning are now +150 NHL betting favorites to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. New York is +500.
Pulock Saves Game 4 for Isles
The Islanders snapped a two-game skid in this series with a 3-2 home victory on Saturday that not only evened this series but assured at least one more game – Game 6 is Wednesday – at the venerable Nassau Coliseum. The team is moving to a new arena next to the Belmont Park racetrack starting next season.
All three New York goals came in the second period of Game 4, via Josh Bailey (sixth of playoffs), Mathew Barzal (sixth) and Matt Martin (first), who was named the No. 1 star. Bailey now has 50 career playoff points in 68 games, becoming the 12th player in Islanders history to reach 50 playoff points with the team and requiring the sixth-fewest games to get there.
Both Adam Pelech and Cal Clutterbuck had two assists. Semyon Varlamov saved 28 of 30 shots, allowing both goals in the third period. An argument can be made that blueliner Ryan Pulock should have been the No. 1 star as he saved the game with two seconds left. Varlamov was out of position when Ryan McDonagh’s shot at the net was stopped by Pulock, who slid across the crease and deflected the puck with his glove to preserve the 3-2 victory. The Islanders players all swarmed Pulock instead of Varlamov at the end.
"I think everyone’s breath just got taken away when that puck was coming," said Barzal. "I thought that was going in. Just a miraculous play by [Pulock]. I’m not going to be forgetting that one." If the Islanders go on to win the Cup, that play will go down as one of the most memorable in team history. They also trailed 2-1 in each of their first two series before taking Game 4.
Bolts’ Point on Point Yet Again
Tampa Bay’s goals in Game 4 came from Brayden Point (12th – by far most of any player in this postseason) and Tyler Johnson (second).
Point has a goal in seven straight postseason games, the longest by any NHL player since Claude Lemieux also had seven in 1997 for Colorado. The record streak in one postseason is 10 straight games with a goal by Philadelphia’s Reggie Leach in 1976. Point has 66 career playoff points, passing former Lightning legend Martin St. Louis for third on the franchise’s all-time list. Point also led the NHL in the 2020 postseason with 14 goals, a franchise playoff record. I think he breaks that this year.
Point is among the NHL betting favorites to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP as is teammate Nikita Kucherov, who had an assist Saturday to increase his points streak to seven games in a row. He leads all players by a mile with 24 points this postseason. Not bad for a guy who missed the entire regular season following hip surgery.
Andrei Vasilevskiy played well in net other than that three-goal Islanders second period. The Russian’s run of four straight starts where he allowed two or fewer goals ended. Tampa had won four straight road games as well.
How important was it for New York to win Game 4? The Lightning are 12-0 all-time when leading a playoff series 3-1. When tied 2-2, the Lightning have an all-time series record of 5-6. The Islanders are 2-13 in a best-of-7 when trailing 3-1 but are 7-6 when tied 2-2. The Bolts haven’t lost back-to-back games in these playoffs, and I don’t think that changes Monday. New York is 4-9 on the NHL odds in its past 13 trips to Tampa.
NHL Pick: Lightning at -180 with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.