Isles bumped off by Boyle at Barclays
Former Ranger Delivers Big Hit, OT Winner in Chippy Game 3
It began with a little pregame bump at center ice between Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic and Tampa Bay center Brian Boyle.
It ended with Boyle banging Thomas Hickey into submission moments before scoring the game-winning goal in overtime as the Lightning stunned the Islanders, 5-4, on Tuesday to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference semifinals in front of 15,795 deeply disappointed fans at Downtown’s Barclays Center.
“That was a direct shot to the head,” fumed New York head coach Jack Capuano after Boyle, a former Ranger, pulverized Hickey with a devastating high hit, picked up the rebound of Victor Hedman’s shot off the boards and beat Thomas Greiss at 2:48 of the extra session.