Tampa Bay starts playoff series against New York
New York Islanders (32-17-7, fourth in the East Division during the regular season) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (36-17-3, third in the Central Division during the regular season)
Tampa, Florida; Sunday, 3 p.m. EDT
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Lightning -201, Islanders +169; over/under is 5.5
NHL PLAYOFFS THIRD ROUND: Lightning host series opener
BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Lightning host the New York Islanders in game one of the Nhl finals. The teams meet Sunday for the first time this season.
In their last regular season meeting on The Lightning are 21-7-0 at home. Tampa Bay is 10th in the league averaging 5.3 assists per game, led by Victor Hedman with 0.7.
The Islanders are 11-13-4 on the road. New York averages just 2.7 penalties per game, the least in the NHL. Ross Johnston leads the team averaging 0.7.
TOP PERFORMERS: Hedman leads the Lightning with 36 assists and has 45 points this season. Alex Killorn has six goals and six assists over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.
Mathew Barzal leads the Islanders with 45 points, scoring 17 goals and collecting 28 assists. Brock Nelson has five goals and three assists over the last 10 games for New York.
DURING THE PLAYOFFS: Lightning: Averaging 3.4 goals, 6.1 assists, 4.9 penalties and 12.0 penalty minutes while giving up 2.4 goals per game with a .931 save percentage.
Islanders: Averaging 3.6 goals, 5.7 assists, 3.2 penalties and 7.0 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game with a .927 save percentage.
INJURIES: Lightning: None listed.
Islanders: Ross Johnston: out (undisclosed), Oliver Wahlstrom: day to day (lower body).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.