3 Takeaways: Islanders Show Resilience in 5-4 OT Win Over Hurricanes 

Mathew Barzal capped a four-point night with the OT winner, as the New York Islanders beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in OT at PNC Arena.

The Islanders center one-timed a feed from Noah Dobson – who had three assists – past Pytor Kochetkov at 2:45 of the extra frame. The four-point game was the fifth of Barzal’s career and marked the first time since Dec. 28 and 29 he’d recorded back-to-back three-point games.

More importantly, the Islanders put Tuesday’s loss in New Jersey behind them, picked up just their third win against Carolina in the last 13 meetings and busted out of a two-game winless skid.

“We needed to rebound, we needed to bounce back,” Head Coach Lane Lambert said. “I was happy for our players to get rewarded because there was a lot of commitment. We blocked a lot of shots, we did what we needed to do in order to win a hockey game in this building.”

Bo Horvat, Simon Holmstrom (SHG), Pierre Engvall and Kyle Palmieri (PPG) found the back of the net in regulation for the Islanders, while Jalen Chatfield, Jordan Staal, Jack Drury and Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes.

Semyon Varlamov made 39 saves, while Kochetkov turned aside 11 of 16.

WINNING THE HARD WAY

It didn’t come easy for the Islanders on Thursday, as they were outshot 43-16 and out-attempted 96-40 and were forced to grind out a much-needed win against a Metropolitan Division rival.

The Islanders showed a lot of resiliency and grit on Thursday night, overcoming deflating moments, most notably the Hurricanes’ game-tying goal with under three seconds to play in regulation.

After letting Tuesday’s game slip away late, the victory brought a great sense of relief and confidence for the group.

“We got the monkey off our back,” Barzal said. “It’s been a few games now where we had the lead and couldn’t finish it off. It’s huge for our group.”

The Islanders fell behind early, but broke even to take a 1-1 game into the first intermission. Things got whacky in a middle frame that tilted the shots 15-3 in favor of the Hurricanes, but saw the Isles escape with a 3-2 lead. The Islanders had difficulties establishing and sustaining zone time to start the second period and were held without a single shot attempt until the 11:35 mark of the period. The Hurricanes peppered Varlamov with 15 shots on goal and 31 shot attempts, but he came up in big moments including making a save on Jesperi Kotkaniemi to keep the score at 2-1.

The second stanza wasn't pretty by any means, but the Islanders were happy with the result. Down 2-1 on the penalty kill, Simon Holmstrom drove to the net on a two-on-one and went top shelf on Kochetkov to knot the score at two apiece.

“Big goal by Homer,” Barzal said. “That was a turning point of the game probably. It gave us some life.”

Pierre Engvall scored at the 18:02 mark of the period for the first Islanders advantage of the night, but the Isles were playing with fire carrying a 3-2 lead into the final frame. The Hurricanes wasted no time, scoring 39 seconds into the third period with a Jack Drury goal to even the score, but the Islanders stuck with it while fending off a high shot volume.

Kyle Palmieri regained the advantage at 6:41 of the final frame, and the Islanders were grasping onto a 4-3 lead with under three seconds on the clock before Sebastian Aho jammed the puck past Varlamov after he made the initial save on Jordan Staal.

“When they tied the game, it was an awful feeling,” Varlamov said. “That was a crazy part of the game.”

The Islanders regrouped in a raucous PNC Arena and righted the ship in overtime, finding a way to win after going 0-4 in games decided in OT to start the season.

SPECIAL TEAMS STAND OUT

Special teams were a difference-maker in the Islanders’ gritty win. 

The Islanders didn’t allow power-play goal through three Hurricanes opportunities, even scoring shorthanded, while their own power play went 1-for-4.

Palmieri got a piece of Noah Dobson’s long shot from the point, redirecting it on goal and jamming it past Pyotr Kochetkov to take a 4-3 advantage late in the game. The power-play goal was challenged by Rod Brind'Amour, but after review the goal stood. The Isles have now scored power-play goals in six straight road games.

“We’ve had a couple of games now where we had the opportunity to win on the power play late in the game, it was a huge goal for us,” Lambert said.

The penalty kill went 3-for-3 but also showed up offensively with Holmstrom netting his sixth goal of the season and third SHG of the season. Holmstrom picked off a Hurricanes zone entry and went back the other way on a two-on-one with JG Pageau before roofing a backhander past the Canes netminder.

“He clearly showed some breakaway speed and finished it,” Lambert said. “He scored some big goals for us. He’s extremely smart when it comes to reading plays on the penalty kill, and I think he’s just getting better and better in that role.

VARLAMOV MAINTAINS COMPOSURE

The win wouldn’t have been possible without steady work from Varlamov, who faced a stiff test and a heavy workload on Thursday night was able to stave off the Hurricanes.  

Varlamov came up big with particular saves against Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the second period and Sebastian Aho late in the third, getting across his net to kick out a wraparound on the Hurricanes point leader.

“He’s unbelievable,” Holmstrom said of Varlamov. “He made some super important saves for us so it’s great to have him back there.”

For his efforts, Varlamov was named the game's first star. With the win, Varlamov improved to 4-3-1 on the season, with all four victories coming on the road.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders wrap up a three-game road trip on Saturday night in Florida. Puck drop is at 6 p.m.