This is the third meeting in 14 days between these two teams. The games haven't been close. Tampa Bay has outscored the Islanders, 10-2. The Lightning have defeated the Islanders six times in a row.

The Lightning are striving for consistency. They haven't played as well as they are capable of. However, they are dropping down in competition here.

New York is well below average with its special teams, its leading scorer John Tavares has just one goal in his last eight games and its goaltenders can't match Ben Bishop. Neither Jaroslav Halak nor Thomas Greiss has played well against Tampa Bay.