Bo Horvat scored a breakaway goal 52 seconds into overtime Tuesday night for the New York Islanders, who overcame a trio of deficits to edge the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-4, in Elmont, N.Y.
Brett Kulak whiffed on a shot deep in the Islanders’ zone before Mathew Barzal picked up the puck and passed to Horvat, who beat Stuart Skinner for his second goal of the game.
Barzal, Matthew Schaefer and Ryan Pulock also scored for the Islanders, who snapped a two-game losing streak and moved within a point of the second-place Penguins in the Metropolitan Division. Goalie Ilya Sorokin made 31 saves.
Anthony Mantha, Egor Chinakhov, Bryan Rust and Justin Brazeau scored for the Penguins, who have lost two straight following a six-game winning streak. Skinner recorded 18 saves.
Mantha opened the scoring with a nifty assist from Brazeau, who maneuvered a one-handed pass around Adam Pelech at the goal line to Mantha, who beat Sorokin stick side with 7:51 left in the first.
The Islanders tied the score and took the lead in the final 79 seconds of the period. After Barzal’s shot glanced off Skinner’s glove, Ryan Shea tried to backhand the puck out of the crease. But the puck hit Anders Lee’s skate and deflected off Skinner’s pads before Horvat lunged past Shea and tucked home a backhanded shot.
Schaefer gave the Islanders the lead with 3.3 seconds remaining, when his shot from the high slot sailed past Skinner as he was screened by Lee.
The Penguins evened the game at 3:52 of the second. Erik Karlsson’s shot glanced off the back boards and was retrieved by Thomas Novak, who fed Chinakhov before the right winger beat Sorokin from the left faceoff circle.
Rust put the Penguins ahead in unusual fashion with 5:51 remaining in the period, when his shot from the goal line glanced off Sorokin’s glove and into the net.
Barzal tied it again with 11:23 left in the third when his shot from the high slot caromed off the far post as Skinner was screened by teammate Ilya Solovyov.
Brazeau snapped the tie just 2:03 later, when he redirected a shot by Brett Kulak before Pulock again pulled the Islanders even by scoring from just above the left faceoff circle with 4:36 remaining.
–Field Level Media
