Tampa Bay Lightning has moved one step closer to securing their place in the Stanley Cup Final, after defeating the New York Islanders 4-1 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Sunday. This result sees them extended their lead over the Islanders to 3-1 on aggregate. Tampa requires just one more victory to win the clash.
Tampa’s goals came from Blake Coleman, Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point, and Pat Maroon. Point also grabbed himself and assist, while Nikita Kucherov made two assists of his own. Tampa forward Blake Coleman had the following to say about Brayden Point, “I’d go as far to say [Point is] the most dangerous guy in the [Stanley Cup] Playoffs this year. He’s a special talent. He tilts the ice every time he’s out there. Anytime you have a guy like that in your lineup, you have a better chance of winning hockey games.”
While proud of his squad’s performance, Lightning coach Jon Cooper warned them about becoming complacent, “Just because you’re one game away doesn’t mean you’re in.
You’re still one game away, and we’re going to have to match an effort that we’ve watched [the Columbus Blue Jackets] give and [the Boston Bruins] give, and I’m sure the Islanders are going to give. But we’ve gone through this. We know what we have to do, and we just got to be ready to do it.”
