TAMPA, Fla. — You could tell it was going to be a different night for the Islanders’ fourth line on Wednesday than that trio had in the opening round quite early in Game 1.
The unfortunate result of Casey Cizikas’ huge hit on the Lightning’s Erik Condra was that Condra had to leave the game just 4:45 in with an apparent concussion after Cizikas followed through on a clean hit and Condra landed hard against the end boards.
But that play and a handful of others less damaging in the opening period showed the best of what the Matt Martin-Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck line can do and did often through the regular season: Not just hard hits but a strong forecheck and a surprising number of good scoring chances.