It's no stroke of dumb luck that Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov is having another playoff season to remember.

The 22-year-old Russian picked up his eighth goal of the postseason Friday night, scoring the tying goal that sent his club to overtime and ultimately set the stage for Jason Garrison's game-winner, giving Tampa a 3-1 series lead.

"He's feeling it," goaltender Ben Bishop said of Kucherov, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. "People don't understand how smart a player he is. Obviously he's got the skill, but he's a very smart player. He's finding areas and getting his opportunities."

Kucherov's goal extendend his postseason lead in the category to two, marking the sixth game in nine playoff contests that he's found the back of the net.

"He's not a one-hit wonder," head coach Jon Cooper said, according to John Kreiser of NHL.com. "He did this last year in the playoffs. He carries it into the regular season and gets 30 goals. Now we're playing on the biggest stage, and he continues to amaze."

Kucherov's hot-handed ways have carried over from the regular season.

After pacing the team with 66 points in 77 regular season games - including his first 30-goal campaign - Kucherov leads the team in postseason goals this spring and is just one point back of Tyler Johnson in playoff points.

He continues to be a consistent playoff performer - as he collected 22 points in 26 games last postseason - shouldering the brunt of the offensive responsibilities for the Lightning.

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With a 2-1 overtime victory in Game 3 Friday, the Tampa Bay Lightning are now just one win away from reaching their second straight Eastern Conference Final.

After the New York Islanders came out of the gate hot in taking Game 1, the Lightning have responded with three straight victories.

The Islanders enjoyed a first-round win over the Florida Panthers - their first playoff series win in 23 years - but the feel-good ride has reached its final destination.

With a 3-1 stranglehold on the series, the Lightning will most surely wrap up the series in one of the remaining must-win contests for the Islanders, here's why.

Shutting down Tavares

Captain John Tavares was a beast in the first-round for the Islanders. The 25-year-old potted five goals and 10 points in six games, including the all-important overtime winner that eliminated the Panthers.

Tavares was only held off the scoreboard once during the six games against Florida, but since Game 1 where he had a goal and an assist, the Lightning have silenced Tavares.

Tampa has limited the 25-year-old center to just seven shots and a minus-3 rating in the last three games. Tavares has twice as many goals as the next highest Islander skater, so it's safe to say the Lightning have cut off the head of the snake.

Big guns continue to roll

While Tampa Bay has done well in silencing the big guns of the Islanders, their own weapons, are still firing on all cylinders.

After Friday's contest Victor Hedman, Tyler Johnson, Valterri Filppula, and Jonathan Drouin are all averaging a point-per-game or better against the Islanders. The four mentioned Lightning have combined for six goals so far and we haven't even mentioned playoff scoring leader Nikita Kucherov.

The 22-year-old has found the back of the net three times in four games and has been showing up in the clutch, tying the game for the Lightning in the last two contests.

Kucherov paces the playoffs with eight goals and does not appear to be slowing down, more bad news for the Islanders.

Lightning are relentless

What makes Tampa Bay such a handful to play against - and what has been most aggravating to the Islanders - is that the Lightning never get down on themselves.

As mentioned before, Tampa has picked up comeback wins in the last two contests - including Game 3 that saw Kucherov tie the game with just 39 seconds remaining.

In both OT wins the Lightning have found the back of the net within the first three minutes of the extra frame, and each time holding the Islanders to a stifling zero shots.

Four times in the series the Lightning have tied the game after giving up the lead, but the club has the never-say-die attitude and it is showing.

Individual performances could get the Lightning past the Islanders alone, but the mindset of never being out of any game is what makes the team such a beast to take down.

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It was a slapshot to end all slapshots.

Kazakhstan's Roman Savchenko scored an unlikely goal from his own end of the ice Saturday.

With his team killing a penalty, the 27-year-old hammered the puck from over 100 feet away of the opposing goal, catching the Switzerland netminder - Colorado Avalanche's Reto Berra - by surprise.

The goal would knot things up at 1-1 as Kazakhstan would go on to defeat Switzerland 2-1 in a shooutout.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning are without Steven Stamkos and Anton Stralman among a collection of regulars out of action with injury and other ailments.

But they aren't lacking in know-how specific to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"There's no real panic button anymore," head coach Jon Cooper said Friday, adding that the Lightning have seen and been through everything over these last two Stanley Cups Playoff bids.

The latest second-season experience ended with Jason Garrison's overtime winner 94 seconds into the extra frame of Game 4, a goal that saw the Bolts move to within a win of a return trip to the Eastern Conference Final after a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders.

"We're just getting contributions from everybody," Cooper said. "Last game it was the (Brian) Boyle line that bailed us out. Tonight it was a defenseman."

Really, those contributions from Boyle, Garrison, and the like have been of the supplemental variety.

Goalie Ben Bishop was brilliant once again, keeping his club in the game with 16 first-period saves before the team's lone attacking constant, Nikita Kucherov, brought them level with his postseason-leading eighth goal a little less than eight minutes into the third.

"He's proven he's not a one-hit wonder," Cooper said of Kucherov.

The further that the Lightning delve into the playoffs, the more plausible that they'll atone for last season's shortcomings.

Stralman could be fit to return before this series is up, while the Lightning reportedly remain of the mind that the captain will return to action this season from ongoing blood clot treatment.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning are one win from returning to the conference final, and they'll have an opportunity to close out the New York Islanders on home ice.

Jason Garrison's booming slap shot early in overtime of Game 4 eluded goaltender Thomas Greiss and gave the Lightning a 3-1 series lead Friday night.

The Lightning trailed for most of the game until Nikita Kucherov tied it midway through the third period with his league-leading eighth goal of the playoffs.

Ben Bishop made 27 saves in the win, pushing his career overtime record to 5-0 and giving him a tournament-best seventh victory of the postseason.

Game 5 goes Sunday afternoon at Amalie Arena.

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