Islanders Season Ends in Overtime of Game 6

 Hockey season in New York is over. At least until sometime in December. 

The Islanders valiant run through the Eastern Conference playoffs in the bubble north of the border, went all the way through the Conference Finals. It was a run that not many had expected, but the Islanders perceived through COVID and everything else to get to this point. It ended Thursday night in a 2-1 overtime defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

The Lighting will face the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Finals. 

The Islanders got off to a fast start in Game six, a goal by Devon Towes to give New York an early 1-0 lead, but that would be as far as the momentum from Game 5's triumphant overtime win would carry them.  

Tampa tied it two minutes later on Victor Hedman's ninth goal of the postseason. Both teams remained deadlocked at one until the late stages of overtime when Anthony Cirelli scored on an assist by Barclay Goodrow and Alex Killron to win it. 

For his efforts, Islanders goalie Semoyn Varlamov recorded 46 saves in defeat. Valarmov had a tremendous postseason, posting an 11-7 record with a Goals Against Average of 2.17. He was excellent. 

Now the focus turns to a quick rest and return to the ice to restart the 2020-21 regular season later this fall.