Islanders tie Jets late, Okposo scores in OT

WINNIPEG --Kyle Okposo scored 2:20 into overtime to give the New York Islanders a come-from-behind 4-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre on Thursday.
Frans Nielsen's shot hit Winnipeg forward Nikolaj Ehlers in the face before Okposo put the bouncing puck past goaltender Michael Hutchinson. New York tied the game with 29 seconds left in the third period after Winnipeg took the lead with 2:03 to go.
The Islanders (35-20-7) have won five of the first six games on a seven-game road trip.

"It's a huge win for us," Okposo said. "Coming out here is not easy to play these games. When you're playing in the [Eastern Conference] and not used to changing time zones, it can wear on the body a little bit."
Islanders coach Jack Capuano won his 200th NHL game.

"I think [I have] just had good players, guys that work hard and believe in the system and play structured hockey," Capuano (200-168-53) said. "That's all we ask for as a coaching staff, and to me that's what guys have done."
After Mark Scheifele's second goal of the game gave Winnipeg a 3-2 lead, Anders Lee set up a screen for Nick Leddy's shot before tipping it past Hutchinson with 28.3 seconds left to tie it 3-3.
"A great shot by [Leddy] just hit my stick, and we got lucky there," Lee said. "We didn't feel too good. We didn't play our best game. To squeak it out and send it to overtime is always exciting, especially late in the game. I'm just excited for us and the boys. Those late [goals] are always fun."
Capuano said, "Our guys stuck with it. It was a tough goal to give up, that third one. We found a way to get two points against a good team. You've got to find a way to win. It's not always going to be pretty, but our guys battled and found a way."

Calvin de Haan and Shane Prince scored for the Islanders, and Nielsen had two assists. Thomas Greiss made 26 saves.
The Jets (26-33-4) have lost seven of their past eight games (1-5-2) and have two wins in their past 13 home games (2-10-1). Scheifele scored a first-period goal, and Tyler Myers tied the game 2-2 9:56 into the third period. Mathieu Perreault had two assists, and Hutchinson made 23 saves.
"It's a highly unusual play that ends up being the game-winner," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. He added that he did not think Ehlers sustained a serious injury.
The Jets outshot the Islanders 15-6 in the first period and took a 1-0 lead. With Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk off for roughing, Scheifele shook off net-front coverage and put the rebound of Dustin Byfuglien's point shot past Greiss at 16:13. Scheifele's 16th goal set an NHL career high.

With center Bryan Little (upper body) out for the season, Scheifele has taken over top-line responsibilities and Thursday matched up against Islanders captain John Tavares.
"Obviously it's a challenge, but it's going to motivate you," Scheifele, in his third full season, said. "It should motivate any competitive athlete. I'm just going to keep doing what I can do, work my hardest and continue to try to produce as much as I can. The matchup is tough. You're playing against highly skilled players, so it's going to be harder every night to create and to defend. That's just all part of the learning curve."
Maurice said, "It's a different game for him now. I like what he is doing with it."

The Islanders tied it 1-1 6:01 into the second period when Hutchinson could not glove de Haan's wrist shot from between the circles.
New York took a 2-1 lead 8:32 into the third period when Prince got a neutral-zone pass from Okposo before moving into the left circle and putting a shot through Hutchinson's pads for his fourth goal. It was his first goal with the Islanders after being acquired from the Ottawa Senators prior to the NHL Trade Deadline.