Lightning 3, Islanders 2 (SO)

[December 18, 2013]  UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Lightning 3, Islanders 2 (SO): Valtteri Filppula scored his second goal to tie it with 3.8 seconds left in regulation and also converted in the first round of the shootout as visiting Tampa Bay rallied to beat New York.

Filppula tallied with 2:53 left in regulation and knotted it after a wild scramble in front of the net for his 12th goal. Nikita Kucherov also scored in the shootout and Ben Bishop made 32 saves for the Lightning, who finished their three-game road trip 2-1-0 and will play four of the next five at home.

Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen each scored for the Islanders, who have not won in regulation since Nov. 12 against Nashville. Nielsen also tallied in the shootout and Evgeni Nabokov turned aside 34 shots in his second game back from a groin injury.

After a scoreless first period, Okposo hammered a low shot from the high slot through a crowd 11 seconds into the middle session for a power-play goal. Bishop kept it right there, stopping Nielsen on a 2-on-none break and John Tavares alone in front soon after the goal.

Michael Grabner slid a nifty pass to Nielsen on a 2-on-1 and he beat Bishop stick side with 9:39 remaining for a 2-0 lead. Filppula cut the deficit in half with 2:53 left and was in the right place to tap a loose puck into the right side of an open net in the final seconds.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Tampa Bay D Victor Hedman missed his sixth straight game with a lower-body injury, but has been skating with the team and could return as soon as Thursday against Nashville. … Islanders D Andrew MacDonald, who leads the league in blocked shots, had five in the first two periods and seven overall. … Tampa Bay RW B.J. Crombeen was back in the lineup as the Lightning scratched LW Dana Tyrell and LW Pierre-Cedric Labrie.

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