Horvat's 2nd goal lifts Islanders past Penguins in OT

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Bo Horvat had two goals and an assist, including the game-winner 52 seconds into overtime, and the New York Islanders defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 at UBS Arena on Tuesday.

He beat Stuart Skinner high to the glove side from between the circles on a breakaway after Mathew Barzal fed him with a bouncing pass up the middle.

“That was, maybe, not our best game, but it was a hard-fought effort,” Horvat said. “Everybody battled, everybody worked hard, everybody contributed in one way or another, and it just feels good to get that win for sure.”

Barzal had a goal and two assists, and Matthew Schaefer had a goal and an assist for the Islanders (31-21-5), who had lost two in a row. Ilya Sorokin made 31 saves.

“Tonight was a game that we had to be resilient in, a game where we had to battle to come back, and that's what we did,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “Bo and ‘Barzy’ had a strong night, and they scored big goals for us. … This is what we call a season. I mean, there’s different ways to win games, and tonight was a good example. We found a way to win, and we had to be bold at a lot of moments in that game. And I thought we were.”

Justin Brazeau had a goal and an assist, and Anthony Mantha, Egor Chinakhov and Bryan Rust also scored for the Penguins (28-15-12), who lost their second straight. Skinner made 18 saves.

“I think we come out of it feeling like we should have closed it out,” Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. “And, we got a couple of leads in the third and didn't close it out. So whether that's getting a big play or getting a second goal to go up by two instead of being only up one … there's different ways to close out games, but we didn't do a good job of that in the third.”

Each team was playing the second half of a back-to-back; the Islanders lost 4-1 at the Washington Capitals on Monday, and the Penguins lost 3-2 to the Ottawa Senators.

Ryan Pulock forced overtime for New York by tying the game 4-4 at 15:24 of the third period. He skated onto a Barzal pass and snapped a shot from above the left face-off circle.

Mantha gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 12:09 of the first period. Brazeau passed from below the goal line to Mantha, who beat Sorokin blocker side from in front for his 20th goal of the season and sixth in his past six games.

Horvat tied it 1-1 at 18:41, batting in a loose puck at the right side of the net while falling to the ice.

Just 1:15 later, Schaefer sent a slap shot from the point past Skinner’s glove to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 19:56.

Chinakhov made it 2-2 at 3:52 of the second period, scoring from the left hash marks after Tommy Novak found him open from behind the net.

Sorokin got his left pad on a Connor Dewar breakaway try at 6:18 after the Penguins killed off an Erik Karlsson delay-of-game penalty.

Rust then put the Penguins in front 3-2 at 14:09. He took a pass from Crosby behind the net and banked a shot off Sorokin at the right post from below the goal line.

Barzal’s one-timer from inside the blue line beat Skinner glove side through a screen to tie the game 3-3 at 8:37 of the third.

“What a ride that was,” Barzal said. “I thought we came out, had a great start, and then we were just always down a goal, and then we get it tied up late, and they get one in front of the net there, and we kind of have a bad power play. And tonight was big, just for the morale in this room, just to know that it doesn't really matter how the game goes -- up [and] down the entire night. I think we knew the whole way we were getting it done. We felt super confident every period.”

The Penguins took a 4-3 lead 2:03 later when Brazeau redirected a Brett Kulak point shot from the inside edge of the left circle to the short side at 10:40.

“There was more of the game that we want to play, but we're at the point of the season where, like, we need that other point, especially against these guys, right? Where things are in the standings,” said Penguins coach Dan Muse, whose team leads the Islanders by one point for second place in the Metropolitan Division. “So, you walk away disappointed. Just at the end, it wasn't quite enough.”

NOTES: Schaefer assisted on the game-winner and had his eighth career multipoint game, tying Rasmus Dahlin and Bobby Orr for the second most in NHL history among 18-year-old defensemen. Only Phil Housley (13) has more. Schaefer (38 points; 16 goals, 22 assists) also tied Orr for the third-most career points by an 18-year-old defenseman. He trails Housley (57) and Dahlin (44). And with his 16th career goal, Schaefer moved within one of Housley for the most by an 18-year-old at the position. … Crosby became the seventh player in NHL history to have 350 assists on go-ahead goals. His next such assist would tie him with Mark Messier for the sixth most. ... Penguins center Evgeni Malkin had a six-game point streak end (three goals, five assists). ... Skinner had won five straight starts and eight of his previous nine.