Takeaways: Islanders Rally For 5-4 Win Over Florida

The New York Islanders have had a flare for the dramatic of late.

Anders Lee broke a 4-4 tie with 31.8 seconds to play on Sunday night, capping off a back-and-forth tilt with the Florida Panthers at UBS Arena. The 5-4 win also doubled as the Islanders fifth straight win – and third straight win when trailing 2-0 early.

Matthew Schaefer powered the offense with his first three-point game (2G, 1A), and became the second Islanders defenseman to score 20 goals in a season, while Bo Horvat and Carson Soucy rounded out the scoring.

Sam Bennett (2G), Sandis Vilmanis and Sam Reinhart scored for the Panthers.

In net, David Rittich stopped 29-of-33 shots in the win, while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21-of-26 in the loss.

The Islanders have won five straight games for the first time this season and won three consecutive games when trailing by multiple goals for the first time in franchise history, per NHL stats.

In the process, the Islanders (75 points) kept pace with the Pittsburgh Penguins (75 points), as the Pens scored a 5-0 win earlier in the day. The Isles are six points up on the Washington Capitals (69 points) with a game in hand.

“It's a big two points for us,” Lee said. “We're putting our push on, and we got teams behind us that are chasing, and we got to keep putting as much space as we can. And take it game by game.”

TAKEAWAYS

What else is there to say about Schaefer – who hit another milestone on Sunday night with his 20^th goal.

How big of an accomplishment is it? He’s just the second defenseman in team history to score 20 goals in a season, joining Islanders legend and Hockey Hall of Famer Denis Potvin. The feat was last accomplished in the 1985-86 season.

“I can't remember watching an 18-year-old do what he's doing, especially as a d-man,” Horvat said. “It's phenomenal. It's fun to watch. Thank God he's on our team.”

Schaefer’s first goal was a lucky one, as his one-timer bounced off a few bodies, the crossbar and eventually Bobrovsky to put the Islanders on the board at 18:01 of the first period. That jumpstarted the Islanders, who tied the score on Soucy’s second period goal. Schaefer’s second was more familiar, as he snapped a shot through traffic, getting a fortunate, but earned, bounce off a defenseman before beating Bobrovsky.

“He's doing things [that are] very special out there,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “He's jumping in his plays and right now he's shooting with confidence.”

Schaefer finished the game with five shots on goal (tied for the team high), 11 total shot attempts and four blocked shots in 23:17 TOI. He also made a key defensive play in the first period, jumping into the crease to block a wraparound attempt.

Schaefer, who also took the outright rookie goal lead on Sunday, took it all in stride.

“It's such a team effort,” Schaefer said. “At the end of the day, guys are finding me, and all I have to do is put on that so, I mean, it's really not just, it's not me, it's, it's a team effort.”

It was a tough start for Rittich, who allowed a pair of backhanders to Vilmanis and Bennett, respectively, but Roy liked how he elevated his game in the third period, stopping 16-of-17. It was tough to fault Rittich on Reinhart’s screened shot to tie the game 4-4, but the backup battled when he needed to.

Lee’s goal extended his scoring streak to three games, while linemate Simon Holmstrom extended his point streak to three games (1G, 3A) in the process. Lee’s now up to 303 career goals, one shy of tying Clark Gillies for fourth all time. While his goals in Montreal and Columbus were typical netfront goals for the captain, Sunday’s winner was a beauty, beating out Aaron Ekblad and cutting across the net for the tally.

The Islanders fell behind 2-0 for the third straight game, and while a third straight rally when trailing by multiple goals was a franchise first.

“We don't quit on the game,” Lee said. “We're going to find a way.”

Roy acknowledged both the unsustainability of constantly chasing and the mental toughness his team is showing.

“I hope it's something we don’t want to do every night,” Roy said. “But, I mean, I love the fact that we don't change our game. We stay focused and we do what we have to do. Coming back two times against these guys they deserve a lot of credit for that.”

Anthony Duclair drew back into the lineup after sitting out three games as a healthy scratch in place of Jonathan Drouin, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Duclair skated 13:22 with his best chance coming on a breakaway in the second period.

NEXT GAME

The Islanders head back out on the road for a four-game road trip, starting on Wednesday night in Anaheim. Puck drop is at 10 PM et.