TAMPA, Fla. _ The Islanders controlled most of the first and third periods and, overall, matched up well with the Lightning in a measuring-stick game.
But it was not enough.
Tyler Johnson, getting to the crease and redirecting Nikita Kucherov's feed, scored the go-ahead goal at 18:34 of the third period and Steven Stamkos added an empty-netter as the Islanders had their seven-game point streak snapped in a 4-2 loss on Thursday night at Amalie Arena.
The Atlantic Division-leading Lightning marked the Islanders' first, first-place battle since ascending to the Metropolitan Division's top spot.
"They've been doing it for the last four, five years, they've been in that top spot," Islanders center Mathew Barzal said. "We haven't been consistent with it so it is a good test for us. We're playing well and we're in first place and that's the best team in the league, probably."
Josh Bailey scored twice for the Islanders (8-5-2) and Robin Lehner made 23 saves while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 35 shots for the Lightning (12-3-1), who have won four straight.
Lehner made his first start since exiting a 6-3 win at Pittsburgh on Oct. 30 after two periods because of back spasms. He served as Thomas Greiss' backup the last two games.
"I pulled my back and I tried to do as good as I could to fix it but it was sore for a little bit," Lehner said. "I don't think I missed much. I got back pretty quick and I backed up twice and kind of got into the flow a little bit that way. I've been practicing so it's not been too bad."
After pressuring on the power play and at even strength to start the third period, the Islanders finally tied it at 2 at 8:43 as defenseman Adam Pelech brought the puck down low and fed Bailey off the left post.
The Islanders, 0-for-5 on the power play, could not score the equalizer as they started the third period with a five-on-three power play for 48 seconds. They did not get a shot on Vasilevskiy during the two-man advantage _ Ryan Callahan did block defenseman Ryan Pulock's blast _ then only got two shots on net during the remaining five-on-four play despite pinning the tiring Lightning in their zone.
A subsequent power play at 3:32 after Johnson was called for high sticking Valtteri Filppula yielded two shots but no goal.
The Islanders scored the opening goal for the 10th time in 15 games this season as Bailey outmuscled Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman for the puck in the low slot, spun to his forehand and beat Vasilevskiy at 3:40 of the first period.
The Islanders, who had outshot their opponent only two times previously this season, dominated the sluggish Lightning in the first period with a 16-7 edge in shots and a 24-11 advantage in total chances.
The Lightning regrouped, though, and had the Islanders skating backwards too often in the second period. Mathieu Joseph tied the game at 1 5:58, collecting the puck in the neutral zone, skating up the left wing and beating Lehner to the short side as he shot through defenseman Scott Mayfield's legs in the left circle.
J.T. Miller's one-timer from the right circle gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead at 11:12 of the second period.
