Mathew Barzal scores in OT to lift Islanders past Maple Leafs
NEW YORK — Mathew Barzal scored 21 seconds into overtime, Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves and the New York Islanders rallied to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Thursday night.
Barzal capped a comeback with his 12th goal of the season after assisting on the first three goals. Kyle Palmieri, Alexander Romanov and Bo Horvat also scored and defenseman Noah Dobson had a career-high four assists.
Toronto had its four-game winning streak snapped while the Islanders recovered from a 5-2 home loss to Vancouver on Tuesday night. The Islanders also improved to 4-0-2 against Atlantic Division opponents.
Barzal leads the Islanders with 45 points.
"I didn't get great wood on it but great eyes by Dobbie to find me," Barzal said of his winning sequence. "Tonight was all about everybody chipping in and a big collective effort. That's why we won. That's a big win against a good team."
Toronto star Auston Matthews scored 26 seconds into the second period to give Toronto a 2-1 lead, then tucked a backhand past Sorokin at 2:40 for his league-leading 33rd goal and a 3-1 edge.
Romanov cut it to one at 4:18 of the second, and Horvat tied it with another power-play goal at 13:51. Horvat has 17 goals this season and leads the Islanders with seven power-play goals.
"Our battle level was high and it came up huge for us tonight,'' Horvat said. "When you come back like that and the crowd is into it, we kept our game really simple. Everyone was moving tonight. One of our better all-around games."
Palmieri put the Islanders ahead 40 seconds into the game, beating goaltender Martin Jones on a power play. The Islanders have scored 28 power-play goals, just seven short of their total last season.
With Dobson's four assists and Romanov's goal, Islanders defensemen have 41 points in their last 18 games and 18 points in the last nine games.
"Big game, down 3-1 and we stuck with it,'' said Dobson, who leads the team with 36 assists. "A huge win. We needed to respond after last game."
Bobby McMann tied it for Toronto in the first with his second goal of the season,
"We were relentless on pucks early but I thought we gave too much,'' McMann said. "We gave them life, and they found that momentum."
Toronto also lost 4-3 to the Islanders in overtime on Dec. 11 at UBS Arena. Horvat scored the winner that night 46 seconds into the extra session. The teams meet once more this season on Feb. 5 in Toronto.
"I thought 5-on-5 we were pretty good. But special teams costs us the game," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "We played a good game but we made mistakes."
UP NEXT
Islanders: At Nashville on Saturday night.
Maple Leafs: Host Colorado on Saturday.
