Sergachev: There's mutual hatred between Lightning, Islanders

It was abundantly clear before the end of Friday's Game 3 that the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders aren't overly fond of one another. Bolts D-man Mikhail Sergachev confirmed that assumption.

The blue-liner was asked postgame whether he thought a rivalry was brewing between the two clubs.

"I don't know if it's a rivalry, but they don't like us and we don't like them," he told NHL.com's Bryan Burns.

The tilt, in which the Islanders prevailed 5-3 to cut Tampa's series lead to 2-1, was filled with physicality, chippiness, and hatred. Things got particularly heated toward the end of the game, as the two teams engaged in a little brouhaha after Jean-Gabriel Pageau's empty-netter.

Nikita Kucherov doesn't want Jean-Gabriel Pageau to get his empty-netter. Pageau takes exception after scoring pic.twitter.com/Uq1T1ZJY3k

- Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) September 12, 2020

Matt Martin and Barclay Goodrow then proceeded to drop the mitts.

#Isles Matt Martin and #GoBolts Barclay Goodrow drop the gloves pic.twitter.com/BFsdVL2wmn

- Here's Your Replay (@TheReplayGuy) September 12, 2020

Game 4 is set for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.

Copyright (C) 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.