3 Takeaways: Horvat Helps Isles Past Leafs 4-3 in OT

Bo Horvat scored the OT winner as the New York Islanders topped the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Monday night at UBS Arena.

It marked the third win in as many games for the Islanders – and second straight OT win – as the red-hot Islanders extended their point streak to six games (5-0-1). Brock Nelson (1G, 1A), Casey Cizikas and Kyle Palmieri (1G, 1A) while Noah Dobson had a game-high three points (3A). Auston Matthews, John Tavares (1G, 1A) and Morgan Rielly scored for the Maple Leafs, who also saw their point streak extended to six games (4-0-2).

Ilya Sorokin won the battle of the Ilya’s, stopping 37 of 40 shots in the win, while Ilya Samsonov stopped 27 of 31 in the loss.

With the win, the Islanders (33 points) jumped into second place in the Metropolitan Division and are now 8-1-4 in their last 13 games.

"We have a lot of belief in here, a lot of really good hockey players and a lot of guys stepping up in big ways and different guys too," Horvat said. "And that's where you need to win hockey games and that's what we're doing right now."

ISLANDERS REBOUND FOR OT WINNER AFTER ALLOWING TYING GOAL LATE:

The Islanders were 6.4 seconds away from a regulation win on Monday night, but couldn’t quite hold off a third period barrage from the Maple Leafs.

They were outshot 14-4 in the third period, with William Nylander throwing a puck into traffic in the dying seconds. The shot hit John Tavares – for his 1,000^th career point – and caromed to Morgan Reilly, who knocked in the rebound to tie the score.

It could have been a deflating moment, especially given some of the leaky third periods, blown multigoal leads and last-second goals this season, but instead, the Islanders steeled themselves and turned woe into a win.

“We did face some adversity,” Head Coach Lane Lambert said. “They pulled the goalie they've got a lot of skill and they ended up tying the hockey game, but we found a way and that's what good teams do.”

The Isles needed a little longer than Saturday to secure the win in OT, but they made quick work of the Maple Leafs. After a failed two-on-one for Toronto, Noah Dobson capped a three-assist night with a stretch pass to Mathew Barzal, who dished to Horvat on a two-on-one.

“Barzy and I looked at each other and just said, ‘chance to be the heroes again tonight,’” said Horvat, who was also credited with giving a motivating locker room speech on Saturday night when the Isles were down 2-0.

The goal was Horvat’s 10^th of the season and extended his point streak to seven games, with 11 points (5G, 6A) over that span.

PLENTY OF POSITIVES TO PULL FROM WIN:

There were a lot of things to like about Monday’s effort for the Islanders.

They carried the play in the first period, outshooting the Leafs 14-9 and out attempting Toronto 32-17. The aggressive play yielded a 2-1 lead after the first period, with Brock Nelson and Casey Cizikas scoring to answer an early power-play goal from Auston Matthews.

Nelson whipped his team-leading 12^th goal off his back foot off a nice dish from Kyle Palmieri to tie the score at the 9:20, but Cizikas’ goal was all forecheck, as Hudson Fasching drove deep into the Leafs’ zone with Cal Clutterbuck working the puck out front to Cizikas.

Palmieri extended the lead to 3-1, as Ilya Samsonov let what he hoped was an icing call kick off the end boards into the slot, setting off a sequence that led to Palmieri burying his fifth point (3G, 2A) in the last six games.

“We're playing pretty confident,” Lambert said. “We’re making plays. Offensively, I think things are happening and we're getting opportunities. I liked our execution for the most part. There's a lot of good things to be said of our game right now.”

The high-octane Leafs worked their way back into the game with John Tavares deflecting a Conor Timmims shot past Ilya Sorokin at 7:43. Toronto tilted the ice to start the third, but Ilya Sorokin made a handful of key stops to keep the Isles up one. Sorokin bailed out a rare defensive zone turnover from Simon Holmstrom and later got across his net to deny a backdoor feed from Calle Jarnkrok and then Matthews – who had 11 shots on Monday – on the rebound.

The positives, in tandem with a run of good results for the Islanders have the Isles playing with confidence.

“We've been playing good hockey for a while now,” Noah Dobson said. “We weren't getting results, but the results are starting to come now. We've got a good homestand here it’s important to get those points.”

DOBSON DELIVERS THREE-POINT NIGHT:

A season-long positive has been the play of Noah Dobson, who put a stamp on the game with three assists on Monday.

Dobson is up to 27 points (5G, 22A) in 27 games this season, moving into a tie with Tampa’s Victor Hedman for fourth among defensemen in scoring.

Dobson has been especially good of late with 11 assists in his last seven games. The defenseman has recorded three assists twice over that span.

The defenseman also extended a pair of streaks, as he recorded a point for the fourth-straight game and played over 25 minutes for a ninth straight contest.

“I feel like I'm in a good rhythm,” Dobson said. “Just trying to make plays and make the simple play. It's been nice to kind of find the rhythm of the games every other day. But guys are doing a good job burying the chances and so things are going well now just keep rolling.”

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders take on the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.