Third line gets Isles first win in Tampa
Prince Scores Twice as New York Gains Early Edge on Lightning
How about we call them the “Prince and the Revolution” line.
Making their debut as a unit, Shane Prince, Ryan Strome and Brock Nelson combined for six points Wednesday night as the New York Islanders posted a 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series in front of 19,092 fans at Amalie Arena.
With the first line of John Tavares, Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen providing virtually all off the offense during the Islanders’ thrilling first-round series win over the Panthers, head coach Jack Capuano looked to shake things up to provide more scoring depth against the defending Eastern Conference champions.
Prince, an unheralded 23-year-old late-season call-up, did just that, scoring two critical goals at the end of the first period to pace the Islanders’ third-line production.