Islanders host Lightning seeking eighth straight win

The New York Islanders are the hottest team in the NHL, and that's a welcome state of affairs considering the plight of the other Metropolitan-area sports teams.

Victorious in seven in a row, the Islanders aim to match the third longest single-season winning streak in franchise history on Friday when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning in Uniondale, N.Y.

Coach Barry Trotz's club boasts eight wins to its credit this season, which is three shy of the sum total of the NHL's Rangers (four), Devils (two), NFL's Giants (two) and Jets (one), and NBA's Nets (one) and Knicks (one).

The Islanders, who last won eight straight in a single season in 1989-90, continued their run of good fortune with a 5-3 victory over Philadelphia on Sunday.

Captain Anders Lee recorded his first multi-point performance of the season with a goal and an assist against the Flyers.

"You always look to your leadership and they're going to set the tone," Trotz said of the 29-year-old Lee, who is the 15th captain in franchise history.

"His goal was a great example of leadership. Leadership is, you don't have a license to do less, you have a responsibility to do more. He knew it was a big game, and he did more."

Derick Brassard tallied early in the first period on Sunday to extend his goal-scoring streak to three games while Mathew Barzal increased his point total to eight (five goals, three assists) during the win streak with a marker in the second.

"Our team, I think we've been competing now for the last couple of weeks, we play for each other, it's been a lot of fun," Brassard said. "Guys are stepping up, we have good goaltending, everything is clicking right now."

While the Islanders are rested since their win on Sunday, the Lightning will be playing their third game in four nights on Friday.

Tampa Bay answered a 4-1 defeat to the New York Rangers on Tuesday for its third loss in four contests with a wild 7-6 overtime victory over New Jersey the following night.

Ondrej Palat scored twice before setting up Tyler Johnson's goal 1:16 into overtime to prevent the Lightning from sustaining their first three-game losing streak since March 2018.

"When Ondrej has confidence, has the puck, and plays big, he's my favorite player," the 29-year-old Johnson said. "I love playing with him and watching him play. He's probably been our best player this season."

As for last season's Presidents' Trophy-winning campaign, Palat wants to keep that in the rearview mirror.

"Last year there were times we wouldn't play that good but win easily, but this year it's a little different. It's a different season, and we have a lot of different guys. But I don't want to keep talking about last season," Palat said.

OK, but as far as the past three seasons are concerned, Tampa Bay sports a 7-2-0 mark against the Islanders.

Reigning Vezina Trophy recipient Andrei Vasilevskiy owns a 6-3-0 record with two shutouts, a 2.28 goals-against average and .936 save percentage in 10 career appearances (nine starts) versus New York.