Islanders Hoping to Even Stanley Cup Semis With Game 4 Win Over Lightning

The New York Islanders will try to avoid a third straight loss for the first time this postseason when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning as small home underdogs at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark in Game 4 of their Stanley Cup semifinal series on Saturday. The Isles had lost consecutive games once previously in this year’s playoffs and went on to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2, winning three games in a row.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

New York has gotten some early support from bettors knowing that this might be the team’s last-ever game at Nassau Coliseum yet again. The Islanders have won Game 4 at home convincingly in each of the previous two rounds, even with the added pressure of knowing how important it was to emerge victorious.

Losses in either of those two previous Game 4s would have likely led to New York’s elimination, and instead the team used those performances to help catapult them to the next round. The difference this time around is that the defending Stanley Cup champions are playing the Islanders, and they have enough valuable playoff experience to keep them from taking their opponent lightly.

Tampa Bay News & Notes

The Lightning have been extremely good off a loss in the postseason over the past two years, but their ability to put the pedal to the metal has been even more impressive. Granted, Tampa Bay’s 2-1 win over New York in Game 3 on Thursday was not dominant by any means, but champions are made from those types of performances, the close ones in which certain things just need to go your way.

Brayden Point has been on fire for the Lightning with goals in six consecutive games now, and his latest was the game-Sportsbook in Game 3. In addition, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has been so good for Tampa Bay throughout this postseason, just like last year when he ended up hoisting the Cup.

New York News & Notes

The Islanders need to do a better job of embracing the underdog role like they have for most of these playoffs and treat this like a do-or-die situation. While they could still rally to defeat the Lightning with another home loss in this spot, that scenario seems extremely unlikely, especially against the defending champions.

New York goalie Semyon Varlamov has kept his team in games throughout this series so far, and it is up to his teammates to score more goals for him because three in the last two games has not been enough. The Islanders need to solve Vasilevskiy by getting to him early behind a strong home crowd.