Schedule and 2015-16 Results
Regular Season Records: Tampa Bay 46-31-5=97pts, New York Islanders 45-27-10=100pts
Game 1 on Wednesday, 27 April: New York Islanders win at Tampa Bay, 5-goals-3
Game 2 on Saturday, 30 April: New York Islanders lose at Tampa Bay, 4-goals-1
Game 3 on Tuesday, 03 May: Tampa Bay wins at New York Islanders, 5-goals-4 (OT)
Game 4 on Friday, 06 May: Tampa Bay wins at New York Islanders, 2-goals -1 (OT)
Game 5 on Sunday, 08 May: New York Islanders lose at Tampa Bay, 4-goals-nil

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 5: The Tampa Bay Lightning hosted and shut out the New York Islanders 4-goals-nil to complete a 4-games-1 best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1295 victory. With the series 1295 win, the Tampa Bay Lightning improve their best-of-7 NHL playoff series record to 12-7 overall and 4-1 (with an active four-Quarterfinals-round series winning streak) in the Quarterfinals round. With the series 1295 loss, the New York Islanders see their best-of-7 NHL playoff series record fall to 22-19 overall and 10-4 in the Quarterfinals round. The win order for the victorious Tampa Bay Lightning in series 1295 was LWWWW: Series 1295 thus becomes the tenth NHL Quarterfinals-round series, the 33rd NHL series (all rounds), and the 58th MLB/NBA/NHL series (all rounds) to follow that win order to completion.

After Game 4: The Tampa Bay Lightning visited and bested the New York Islanders 2-goals-1 in overtime to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1295 lead of 3-games-1. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-1, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a series record of 3-0 and a Game 5 record of 2-1. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-1, the New York Islanders have a series record of 2-11 (with an active six-series losing streak) and a Game 5 record of 5-8 (with an active five-Game 5 losing streak). The last MLB/NBA/NHL team to fall into a WLLL @ VVHH win/site hole in a best-of-7 playoff series (as the Islanders have in series 1295) but win the series was the New York Rangers in series 1230 (over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2014 NHL Quarterfinals). Tampa Bay trailed the Islanders in New York by a goal as late as 7:48 into the third period of series 1295 Game 4, but prevailed: In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff games from 1939 through 2015, inclusive, road teams down a goal as late as 7:48 into the third period had a game record of 114-579 (.165).

After Game 3: The Tampa Bay Lightning visited and defeated the New York Islanders 5-goals-4 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1295 lead of 2-games-1. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-1, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a series record of 4-3 and a Game 4 record of 2-5. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-1, the New York Islanders have a series record of 4-11 (with an active five-series losing streak) and a Game 4 record of 7-8. Tampa Bay trailed series 1295 Game 3 as late as 19:20 into the third period in New York, but rallied to force the game to overtime and win in overtime. In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff games from 1939 through 2015, inclusive, road teams down a goal with only 40 seconds left in regulation had a game record of only 14-569 (.024).

After Game 2: The Tampa Bay Lightning hosted and defeated the New York Islanders 4-goals-1 to tie best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1295 at 1-game-all. When tied 1-game-all in a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a series record of 6-5 and a Game 3 record of 6-5, while the New York Islanders have a series record of 8-9 and a Game 3 record of 7-10.

After Game 1: The New York Islanders visited and bested the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-goals-3 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1295 lead of 1-game-nil. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the New York Islanders have a series record of 15-4 and a Game 2 record of 12-7 (with an active five-Game 2 losing streak). When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a series record of 5-6 and a Game 2 record of 8-3 (with an active three-Game 2 winning streak).

Pre-series assessment: In the 2015-16 NHL regular season, the New York Islanders finished three points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning. From 1939 through the 2016 NHL Preliminary round, when NHL teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by three regular-season points, they have posted a best-of-7 playoff series record of 12-20 (.375) in those series against those opponents. MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1295 is the 41st best-of-7 NHL playoff series for the New York Islanders, and the 19th for the Tampa Bay Lightning. In best-of-7 NHL playoff series, the New York Islanders have an all-rounds series record of 22-18, a Quarterfinals-round series record of 10-3, and a Game 1 record of 19-21, while the Tampa Bay Lightning have an all-rounds series record of 11-7, a Quarterfinals-round series record of 3-1 (with an active three-series winning streak), and a Game 1 record of 7-11. Tampa Bay finished with three fewer regular-season points than the New York Islanders, but holds series 1295 home-ice advantage under the current NHL playoff format. Series 1295 is the second best-of-7 NHL playoff series meeting between Tampa Bay and the New York Islanders. In series 906, Tampa Bay defeated the New York Islanders in the 2004 NHL Preliminary round, en route to the 2004 NHL championship.