Tolvanen's late goal caps Predators rally against Islanders

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Eeli Tolvanen scored with 11.5 seconds remaining to give the Nashville Predators a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Thursday.

Tolvanen redirected Roman Josi's shot from the left point after Yakov Trenin tied it 3-3 at 12:31 of the third when he drove the net and redirected a shot from Tanner Jeannot past Semyon Varlamov.
"Lately, we've been playing really good hockey," Tolvanen said. "We were down seven minutes into the game, and it's just something that there was no quit today. I felt like all four lines were playing really well, and it was just a matter of time we got those chances. Two nice goals in the third."

Colton Sissons and Ryan Johansen each had a goal and an assist for the Predators (15-10-1), who have won three in a row, including the first two of a four-game road trip. David Rittich made 18 saves.
"I give the Islanders credit, that was a hard-fought, physical game," Nashville coach John Hynes said. "I thought both teams played very well. But I think to be able to have that style of game, come from behind twice, down 3-2 with seven minutes left, to tie it and then find a way to win it, you have to be able to find ways to win on the road.
"It was a hard-fought game, tough environment to play in, and our guys stuck with it and got rewarded for it."
Oliver Wahlstrom had two assists for the Islanders (6-11-5), who have lost 12 of their past 13 games (1-9-3) and are 0-5-2 at UBS Arena. Varlamov made 25 saves.
"We've had games in this building that we could've won," New York captain Anders Lee said. "For whatever reason, we haven't closed it out. There's a lot of individual games you look at and how close they were, we come out on the wrong side, and it just happens to be that they're strung together in this building."
Austin Czarnik gave New York a 1-0 lead when he drove the net and one-timed a pass from Wahlstrom at 6:48 of the first period.

Johansen tied it 1-1 at 17:28 after Luke Kunin stripped defenseman Sebastian Aho of the puck at the Islanders' blue line, and Sissons scored 1:24 later on a rebound of Matt Benning's shot from the right point to give Nashville a 2-1 lead.
"We knew they were going to come out hard and super competitive. They're still looking for their first win in their building here," Sissons said. "I think we came pretty prepared for that. That was a back-and-forth match, but we remained tough and stuck together and hung in there."
Lee tied it 2-2 on the power play at 1:56 of the second period when he stuffed the puck past Rittich from the edge of the crease for his third goal in two games.
Noah Dobson gave New York a 3-2 lead with a low wrist shot from beyond the right circle at 5:08 of the third period.

Rittich kept the game tied when he made a save on Cal Clutterbuck's wrist shot from the right circle with 1:59 left.
"I think we just played a pretty solid game and we were getting better and better," Sissons said. "It was tough going down one, but we kind of rallied around that. We knew that we were still in the game and had all in the confidence in the world we could score one, score two and come back and win a hockey game."
Islanders forward Anthony Beauvillier was benched for the first 10 minutes of the second period. He was on the ice for Sissons' goal late in the first.
"They had full possession, he's standing next to a 'D' and decides to change, that 'D' walks in and blasts it, and they get a goal. That can't happen," New York coach Barry Trotz said. "'Bo' has to raise his game. Not a lot of production, lost way too many battles in the last little while. That was sort of a little bit of a tipping point for me that maybe you have to watch a little bit."
NOTES: Tolvanen has scored in three straight after a 22-game drought. He tied David Legwand for the second-latest go-ahead goal in Predators history, behind Martin Erat, who scored with nine seconds left against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 22, 2011. … Jeannot had two assists. … New York has not won consecutive games since Nov. 4-6. … Islanders center Casey Cizikas was removed from COVID-19 protocol but missed his fifth straight game. … It was Czarnik's first NHL goal since Oct. 24, 2019, with the Calgary Flames. … New York forward Kyle Palmieri did not have a shot on goal and was minus-3 in 17:46 of ice time.