Marc Gatcomb, Maxim Tsyplakov and Noah Dobson scored in a span of a little more than six minutes in the third period Sunday night for the New York Islanders, who stormed back to beat the Florida Panthers 4-2 in Belmont Park, N.Y.
The Islanders (30-28-8) were outshooting the Panthers 27-12 when Gatcomb began the comeback by collecting his own rebound and scoring on a wraparound at the 6:29 mark of the third.
New York tied the game with 8:44 left when Mike Reilly sent a clearing pass through the neutral zone to a streaking Tsyplakov, who nudged a shot through Vitek Vanecek’s legs to cap the breakaway.
Reilly returned to action Sunday after missing more than four months following surgery to address a heart condition discovered after he suffered a concussion on Nov. 1.
Dobson collected the game-winner just 17 seconds later. The defenseman intercepted a pass by Uvis Balinskis and the puck bounced to Anders Lee before Dobson picked it up, bore in on Vanecek and flicked a shot over his glove.
The Panthers (41-24-3) pulled Vanecek with a little under two minutes remaining. Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin stopped three shots during a pair of frantic pileups in the crease before New York won a faceoff and Simon Holmstrom scored an empty netter from his own end with 6.3 seconds left.
The win was just the second this season in which the Islanders overcame a two-goal third-period deficit. They beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3, in a shootout on Nov. 5.
Sorokin made 22 saves Sunday for the Islanders, who snapped a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) and moved within four points of the New York Rangers in the race for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.
Sam Reinhart scored one minute into the second and Aleksander Barkov doubled the lead at the 4:48 mark for the Panthers, who lost for the second time in as many nights and for the third time in four games (1-3-0). Florida fell 3-1 to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
Vanecek recorded 30 saves for Florida, which visits the Columbus Blue Jackets next on Thursday.
–Field Level Media
The Cincinnati Bengals are keeping star wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins after the pair agreed to contract extensions, according to multiple reports on Sunday night. The receivers told…
March Madness gives college basketball’s best players the stage to become transcendent. In recent years, Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon’s run to the 2019 Final Four, and the 2023 national championship…
Some teams are riding the momentum of having won their conference tournament championship. Some are hoping the break after the conference tournaments enables them to regain their season-long form after…
10 players poised to become household names in NCAA Women’s Tournament
Eight teams most likely to make Women’s Final Four
Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder cruise past Bucks
Dylan Samberg’s OT winner lifts Jets over Kraken
Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM
