Vengeance Thy Name is Brock! Nelson Goal Proves Extra Satisfying in Game 3 Win | NYHN+

There were no Hollywood writers up in Edmonton scripting the way the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals has played out. If there were, Brock Nelson scoring the game-winning goal on Friday would have been the ending they came up with for Game 3.

Alas, it was Brock Nelson who scored top shelf with 3:25 left in the game to put the New York Islander up 4-3 over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Islanders defeated Tampa 5-3 to cut their series deficit to 2-1.

Considering the abuse Nelson took in Game 2 it seemed like poetic justice. The Islanders forward had been blindsided by Alex Killorn in the first period of Game 2, causing Nelson’s head to slam into the glass and for him to briefly go to the Islanders’ dressing room.

After Nelson returned, Barclay Goodrow cross-checked him in the head without the refs calling a penalty.

“He’s an elite hockey player. I’m not sure he gets enough credit for what he does out there,” Cal Clutterbuck said about Nelson. “Just displayed another level of character in the way that he responded to the other night. Obviously it was a dirty play and sometimes you’re on the receiving end of those.

“There’s nothing you can do, but he fought through and to his credit, he just continues to grow and rise with the moment.”

Nelson’s goal all started with Nelson himself forcing the turnover near the blue line as Tampa Bay went to clear their own zone. The Islanders were able to move the puck around and Anthon Beauvillier set up Nelson for the goal with a no-look pass from across the ice.

As has always been traditional with hockey players, Nelson pushed the focus back onto the team after the game.

“Yeah it’s nice to get a bounce-back win,” Nelson said. “A lot of guys were big for us. (Goaltender Semyon Varlamov) was big and obviously Beau made a nice play. Got stopped on the first one but stuck with it and found me. It’s nice to get that win.”

Friday’s goal was Nelson’s eighth of the postseason and he is tied for third-most in the league with fellow teammate Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Tampa Bay star Brayden Point. In 19 playoff games this year Nelson has 17 points (eight goals, nine assists).

“Brock is a little bit under the radar to a lot of people,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “He’s grown so much over the years and he’s battling through that last game. It wasn’t easy and I wasn’t surprised knowing Brock. He just got determined and said hey I’m going to bounce back.

“He’s resilient and I really liked his game.”

The Game 3 win helped the Islanders fend off Tampa from pushing them to the brink of elimination. A loss would have put the Islanders down 3-0 and they would have faced an insurmountable hill to climb back into the series.

Instead, Nelson capitalized at the moment the Islanders needed him to and sent them into Game 4 on Sunday in a good spot.

The Islanders had led 3-1 heading into the third period, but Tampa erased it by the 12:04 mark of the third. Aside from the hole the Islanders would have been in, coming that close to a win only to blow the opportunity in the final period would have been tough to recover from.

“We stuck with it and stayed the course and got right back on it.,” Brock Nelson said. “Can’t sit back too much against a team like that. They’ll come at you in ways and they got the early power-play goal. They had some momentum, but we did a good job. Varly made some big saves and it was nice to come out on top.”