TAMPA, Fla. — The hole was just too deep.

The Islanders made it close with three goals in the third period but lost 5-3 to the Lightning in the opening game of a back-to-back on Saturday afternoon at Amalie Arena. Jake Guentzel finally clinched it with an empty-netter with 13.1 seconds left.

The Islanders (32-30-10), now in an 0-2-2 slide, started the day one point behind the Blue Jackets for the Eastern Conference’s second-wild card spot as well as the Canadiens and Rangers.

They scored three goals within two minutes, 49 seconds in the third period to change the question from whether they would be shut out to whether they would complete a miraculous comeback.

Defenseman Alexander Romanov agitated Anthony Cirelli into a roughing penalty at 4:40 of the third period after a hit on Bradon Hagel and Ryan Pulock’s power-play blast from the blue line made it 4-1 at 5:58. Marc Gatcomb connected from the right of the goal  at 7:47 and defenseman Tony DeAngelo, from a similar spot, brought the Islanders within one goal at 8:47.

The Islanders conclude this short road trip against the playoff-bound Hurricanes on Sunday — coach Patrick Roy said goalie Marcus Hogberg would get the start — then face the Lightning again on Tuesday at UBS Arena.

Ilya Sorokin made 19 saves against the Lightning, making it to the end despite a rough first period. He was pulled from Wednesday night’s 5-2 loss to the visiting Canucks at 1:05 of the third period after allowing four goals on 19 shots.

The Lightning (43-25-5) dismantled Utah 8-0 on Thursday — the fifth time this season they’ve scored that many goals while no other NHL team has done it more than twice — and outscored their opponents 19-4 on their three-game homestand.

They scored three times on seven shots in the first period against the Islanders, who did not accomplish Roy’s stated objectives of making it difficult for the Lightning to get through the neutral zone while not turning the puck over.

Nikita Kucherov, off the rush, opened the scoring at 2:02 on the Lightning’s first shot. Defenseman Nick Perbix made it 2-0 from a similar spot in the right circle at 7:31 after the Islanders could not clear their zone. Brayden Point, in the left circle, finished a sharp passing sequence that left the Islanders more than a step slow for a 3-0 lead at 17:57.

The Islanders poured 15 shots on Jonas Johansson (35 saves) in the second period and Casey Cizikas hit the near post on a good look from the right at 16:31. But Point notched his second goal at 19:43 to make it 4-0 after the Lightning skated six-on-five for nearly 30 seconds on a delayed hooking call against Pierre Engvall.

Ex-Ranger captain Ryan McDonagh, in his second tenure with the Lightning, was honored in a pre-game ceremony for playing in his 1,000th NHL game. The defenseman hit the milestone on Thursday . . . Defenseman Adam Boqvist re-entered the Islanders’ lineup for Mike Reilly while Matt Martin and defensemen Scott Mayfield and Scott Perunovich remained healthy scratches . . . Jean-Gabriel Pageau wore a full face shield after being bloodied when a puck hit him in the nose on Thursday.