Islanders top Penguins in OT, tie their record with 15-game point streak

PITTSBURGH -- Brock Nelson scored 2:55 into overtime, and the New York Islanders matched their record by extending their point streak to 15 games in a come-from-behind 5-4 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.

Nelson had two goals and an assist, Nick Leddy had three assists, Anthony Beauvillier had a goal and an assist, and Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves for the Islanders (15-3-1), who are 14-0-1 since losing 5-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 11. New York has had a 15-game point streak three previous times with the most recent coming Jan. 21-Feb. 20, 1982 (15-0-0).
"Honestly, and this is with all true honesty, we wouldn't even know," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "Our team would have no clue if we won 10 in a row or five in a row. We would just know we haven't lost in a while. That's really been our mentality. But everyone in the media seems to keep bringing that up, so we're understanding the numbers now."
WATCH: [All Islanders vs. Penguins highlights]
Matt Murray made 37 saves for Pittsburgh (11-7-3), which is 3-1-2 in its past six games. Brandon Tanev had two goals, Jake Guentzel had a goal and an assist, and Evgeni Malkin had two assists.
"I didn't think we were very good at all [in overtime]," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "I just thought our details were brutal. So we have to be better."

The Islanders rallied from two goals down twice in the game after coming back from down 3-0 in the third period of a 4-3 shootout win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. They overcame multigoal deficits to win consecutive games for the 10th time in their history.
Josh Bailey cut Pittsburgh's lead to 4-3 with a wrist shot from above the crease at 15:41 of the third period, four seconds after a penalty on Penguins forward Bryan Rust expired, before Ryan Pulock tied it 4-4 at 18:28 with Varlamov pulled for a sixth skater.
After Beauvillier intercepted a pass from Justin Schultz intended for Guentzel in overtime, he found Nelson at the top of the right face-off circle. Nelson shot on Murray before side stepping Schultz to tap in the rebound.
"I think having fun is the biggest thing," Nelson said. "It's fun when you're winning games. So right now, we're showing up, working hard and believing in each other."
Rust put the Penguins ahead 1-0 at 11:34 of the first period with a snap shot glove side on a power play. He has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in 10 games after missing 11 games with an upper-body injury to start the season.

Tanev made it 2-0 by redirecting a shot from John Marino at 16:18 of the first.
Beauvillier cut it to 2-1 with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle over Murray's glove at 2:39 of the second period. He has five goals during a three-game goal streak after scoring two in his first 16 games this season.
Nelson deflected a shot from Leddy to tie it 2-2 at 5:30 of the second.
Tanev gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead with a wraparound goal off Adam Pelech's skate and in at 14:31 of the second. He had two goals for the first time since he scored twice for the Winnipeg Jets in a 5-3 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Nov. 4, 2016.

"We have to play the game we want to play," Tanev said. "Have to come together as a group here."
Guentzel scored on a power play to make it 4-2 at 2:39 of the third.

They said it

"We don't want to keep going down every game. Obviously, we want to play with the lead, but one of those games where those points are going to count at the end of the year." -- Islanders forward Anthony Beauvillier
"This is like a mistake. ... We can't do mistakes in the last seven, 10 minutes." -- Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin

Need to know

The Islanders came back after trailing by more than one goal in the third period to win consecutive games for the second time in their history. It also happened on Dec. 31, 1985 (5-4 overtime win against the Red Wings), and Jan. 2, 1986 (7-5 win against the Boston Bruins). ... Islanders forward Casey Cizikas played his 500th NHL game. He had one shot on goal and six hits in 15:20. ... New York forward Derick Brassard returned to Pittsburgh for the first time since being traded from the Penguins to the Florida Panthers on Feb. 1. He had two assists. ... Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist missed a seventh straight game with a lower-body injury. He wore a full-contact jersey during morning skate Tuesday. ... Pittsburgh has killed 23 straight penalties and hasn't allowed a power-play goal in its past 10 games.

What's next

Islanders: Host the Penguins on Thursday (Barclays Center, 7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, MSG+, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)
Penguins:At the Islanders on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, MSG+, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)