Takeaways: Barzal's OT Winner Leads Isles Past Devils 3-2

Mathew Barzal scored the OT winner as the New York Islanders battled back for a 3-2 OT win over the New Jersey Devils on Monday night at Prudential Center.

Barzal’s goal – his sixth-career OT winner, which came via a breakaway off a nifty feed from Jonathan Drouin – propelled the Isles past the Devils after Simon Nemec tied the score with 4.7 seconds to play. Kyle Palmieri (PPG) and Bo Horvat also scored for the Islanders, while Timo Meier also netted a power-play goal for the Devils.

Ilya Sorokin stopped 33-of-35 shots in the win, while Jacob Markstrom stopped 21-of-24 in the loss.

With the win, the Islanders are 2-0-0 to start their seven-game road trip and handed the Devils their first loss at home in eight games.

“That was a character win,” Head Coach Patrick said about his team’s resiliency after the late tying goal. “Giving a goal with four seconds left and to be able to win the game, I thought it was a great team effort.”

TAKEAWAYS

- Barzal’s OT winner finished in the back of New Jersey’s net, but the play started deep in the Islanders’ zone. Barzal made a heads-up play to poke a loose puck around Jack Hughes in front of the Islanders net before rushing up the ice for the give-and-go with Drouin. It was a perfect example of Roy’s good defense will lead the offense mantra.

Barzal broke through in a game that was otherwise bottling him up, as his goal was his lone shot attempt of the game. Games in New Jersey have been “grindy” but he said finding ways to win will be key for the Isles.

“Games are going to be like that, they're not going to be pretty,” Barzal said. “And those are ones you have to find a way to win. Those are how teams get in the playoffs.”

- Sorokin looked superb again on Monday, continuing his strong play from Saturday with 33 saves. The Islanders netminder looked calm in chaotic situations, weathering several Devils surges. He came up with a key save on Jack Hughes off the rush after an Isles turnover at the Devils blue line and stopped Nico Hischier on a quality chance in the final minute of the second period tied 1-1. He also kept the Isles from going down 2-0 early with a big save on a wide open Cody Glass at the top of the crease and had a huge save on Zack MacEwen in the slot on a delayed call in the third period.

He gave up a power-play goal to Meier 2:12 into the game and Nemec’s six-on-five tally hit JG Pageau’s shinpad before going in, so he was faulted for neither. Eight of his 33 saves came via the penalty kill.

After passing Billy Smith on the team shutout list on Saturday, Sorokin moved up another milestone on Monday, as his 130^th career win tied Rick DiPietro for third-most in franchise history.

- As for the PK, it came up big with a pair of third period kills against a talented Devils power play going 3-for-4 on the night.

“Obviously we'd like to have the first one back, but I thought we regrouped and we're great,” Horvat said. “Our D were blocking shots, our forwards were doing a good job of closing lanes and closing their opportunities and their time and space. So overall, great job.”

- The PK had a few kicks at the can, but the power play just had one opportunity. The Isles made the most of it, as Matthew Schaefer’s shot into traffic found its way to Palmieri, who netted his fifth of the year.

- Horvat continued his hot streak with another goal on Monday, taking a Palmieri feed and scoring high on Markstrom to tie the score 1-1 at 6:55 of the first

Horvat - who Roy said should be on Team Canada’s Olympic radar – is now up to a team-leading 12 goals, which ties Montreal’s Cole Caufield for second in the NHL. The goal also extended Horvat’s point streak to six games with eight points (6G, 2A) over that span. He added the secondary assist on Palmieri’s tying goal, which marked the 300^th of his career.

“He might be the best shooter in the world right now,” Barzal siad. “His shot is truly world class, and anytime he's around the net, or he's got a chance in the slot, it's got a great chance of going in.”

- A game and a half after changing his d-pairs, Roy made some in-game adjustments on Monday. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock were reunited, while Schaefer paired with Tony DeAngelo and Alexander Romanov and Scott Mayfield rounded out the pairings.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders head west, taking on the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night. Puck drop is at 10 p.m. eastern.