Tampa Bay aims to clinch conference finals against New York in game 6
Tampa Bay Lightning (43-21-6, second in the Atlantic Division during the regular season) vs. New York Islanders (35-23-10, fifth in the Metropolitan Division during the regular season)
Edmonton, Alberta; Thursday, 8 p.m. EDT
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: Tampa Bay leads series 3-2
BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Lightning look to clinch the Eastern Conference finals over the New York Islanders in game six. The teams meet Thursday for the ninth time this season. The Islanders won the last meeting 2-1 in overtime.
The Islanders are 25-13-5 against Eastern Conference opponents. New York has converted on 17.3% of power-play opportunities, scoring 29 power-play goals.
The Lightning are 28-12-3 in conference play. Tampa Bay averages 9.4 points per game to lead the NHL, recording 3.5 goals and 5.9 assists per game.
TOP PERFORMERS: Mathew Barzal leads the Islanders with 41 assists and has 60 points this season. Brock Nelson has six goals and four assists over the last 10 games for New York.
Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning with 85 points, scoring 33 goals and adding 52 assists. Ondrej Palat has eight goals and three assists over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.
DURING THE PLAYOFFS: Islanders: Averaging 3.1 goals, 4.9 assists, 3.8 penalties and 9.4 penalty minutes while giving up 2.3 goals per game with a .918 save percentage.
Lightning: Averaging 3.2 goals, 5.8 assists, 4.9 penalties and 12.8 penalty minutes while giving up 2.3 goals per game with a .928 save percentage.
INJURIES: Islanders: Casey Cizikas: out for season (undisclosed), Tom Kuhnhackl: out for season (undisclosed).
Lightning: Steven Stamkos: out (lower body).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by , and data from ,.
