Islanders Unlock 4-3 Shootout Win Over Penguins Thanks to Third Period Comeback

Elmont, NY — After trailing 3-1 deep into the third period, New York Islanders rallied back and defeated Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 via shootout with Bo Horvat scoring its only goal. (c) Brad Penner-Imagn Images The first period was scoreless as neither side managed to light the lamp; both teams received power play opportunities but could not capitalize. Pittsburgh outshot New York 12-7 during this frame and George made his NHL debut at 5:17 of period one. He saw 2:16 of ice time across four shifts during the opening frame, when no goals had been scored yet. Pittsburgh eventually broke through when scoring on an unorthodox goal that brought scores close together again. After Scott Mayfield mishandled an Erik Karlsson dump-in, the puck found its way to Evgeni Malkin and eventually Sidney Crosby – who made history at 5:27 of the period with an easy backhand shot to give Pittsburgh their opening goal of the evening. Goal number 598 in his NHL career for Lee was the result, giving him five red lights over three games. Patrick Roy challenged it for offside but even after extensive review with potential evidence in favor of New York Islanders it remained on the ice as was. Although outshot for most of first half frame play Islanders got lucky tying game. After extending play in the offensive zone, Bo Horvat took a shot that was deflected on its way in and floated high above where no one could find it; Kyle Palmieri quickly grabbed it first before sinking his shot for a goal at 12:21 of period 1. He currently leads his team with six goals this year; however, any tie was short lived due to Maxim Tsyplakov being sent into the box for high sticking. Malkin made Pittsburgh’s charge count on their next power play when, with 13:37 remaining in period two, she deflected Matt Grzelcyk’s shot right to Ilya Sorokin for Ilya Sorokin to tip past Sorokin and into Ilya’s right post, giving Pittsburgh an advantage. Although both teams made some shots after that point, but the score remained at 2-1 after both periods had concluded. Pittsburgh outshot New York 14-10 during this third frame, while going 1-for-2 with man advantage. New York couldn’t gain consistent access to their offensive zone early in the third, providing Pittsburgh an advantage. Noel Acciari provided Jesse Puljujarvi with a short pass which led Michael Bunting behind Dennis Cholowski for a partial breakaway, giving Butning enough space to beat Sorokin cleanly for his inaugural goal of 2018. At 7:44 of the third period it made it 3-1. His four consecutive games against the Islanders saw at least one point for him – including goals and assists – but in that span they quickly equalized on power play opportunities. At 9:41 with Drew O’Connor off for kneeing, Palmieri unleashed a shot from the right side that was initially stopped by Nedeljkovic before Simon Holmstrom collected it up front and made a backhand move that led directly into Ryan Pulock and Palmieri for their third goal of the season and their first of his own season, his goal at 9:41 making it 3-2; yet that wasn’t all; as Anders Lee won an extended battle before sending Horvat in right corner where it found Jean-Gabriel Pageau joining in play down center! Pageau had his initial shot denied but followed up on the rebound to beat Nedeljkovic for an equalizer at 12:48 of the third period. As time progressed, New York outshot Pittsburgh 10-7 while being granted another power play opportunity, yet failed to convert and force overtime. Both teams received penalties during overtime that forced a game resolution. Initial penalties against New York included Palmieri being sent off for holding Erik Karlsson; however, their penalty kill went smoothly and afterwards Kris Letang of Pittsburgh received his own caution after tripping Horvat, giving New York another power play opportunity that proved fruitless. After 65 minutes, the game was decided in a shootout. Horvat used one hand against Nedeljkovic during round 2, then Sorokin was unstoppable thereafter. Rakell, Crosby and Letang all scored to hand the Islanders their fourth straight win at 4-3 over Pittsburgh, improving to 5-6-2 while Pittsburgh drops to 5-7-2. New York will return to action Thursday against Ottawa Senators with puck drop at 7PM; George will make his NHL debut that night as well.Related Article: Isaiah George Is Youngest Islanders Defenseman Since Noah Dobson