If the final hockey game at Nassau Coliseum was played on Wednesday night, the New York Islanders gave the fan-favorite dump a proper sendoff.
Anthony Beauvillier's takeaway and wrist shot past goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy just 1:08 into overtime capped off a dramatic come-from-behind win for the Islanders, as they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2, in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup semifinals. Game 7 will be played on Friday night (8 p.m. ET) at Amalie Arena.
Islanders radio analyst Greg Picker joined After Hours with Amy Lawrence on Thursday to discuss the team's overtime thriller and crowd atmosphere.
"That Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum absolutely erupted, like few times we've heard before," Picker said. "There have been plenty of great moments in the Barn, but over the last 20 years, not quite as many as we saw obviously in the '70s and '80s. But it was at another decibel level tonight... [Islanders coach] Barry Trotz just loves to say, 'Stay in the moment. Don't think about anything in the past. Just stay in the moment, keep playing your game, and if you keep your game, don't change anything, then things will come for you.'
"And that's what we saw tonight. You don't see that every game. I think back to Game 3, in which the Lightning had the 2-1 win on Coliseum ice. And that entire game -- again, same type of thing -- it felt like the Barn was just waiting to erupt. They finally did at one point, but the Lightning eliminated any sort of chance that the Islanders had to try to tie up the game in the third period, which was not the case tonight.
"The Lightning actually kind of stayed on their heels. They didn't have a shot on goal until the first eight or nine minutes of that third period. So, I think Tampa kind of changed its game more than the Islanders changed their game, and it worked out pretty well for New York."
The Islanders recorded their seventh comeback win of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, tied for the second-most in a single postseason in franchise history. New York also recorded the 14th instance in NHL history of a team scoring in the opening 70 seconds of overtime to stave off elimination.
According to the William Hill Sportsbook, the Islanders are currently listed as underdogs (+150) in Game 7 against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
The entire Islanders-Lightning conversation between Picker and Lawrence can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow After Hours With Amy Lawrence on Twitter @ALawRadio and @AfterHoursCBS, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.