The New York Islanders won their latest "biggest game of the season", beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in overtime after blowing the lead late in the dying seconds of the third.

The New York Islanders needed to bounce back after a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.

On Monday night, the Islanders' season was essentially on the line against the Philadelphia Flyers, a team they trailed by five points heading into the game. 

A regulation loss would have meant a seven-point gap between the two with eight games to go. 

Instead, the Islanders now trail the Flyers by four points with two games in hand after beating them 4-3 in overtime.

The Flyers jumped the Washington Capitals for third place in the Metropolitan Division, so the Islanders now trail the Capitals for the second wild-card spot by three points. 

Here's how it happened:

After Robert Bortuzzo batted a puck out of the air in the neutral zone, there was a bit of confusion. It seemed that Mike Reilly believed the play would be called for a hand pass, skating a bit too far back in the Islanders' zone, which allowed Noah Cates time and space to snipe Semyon Varlamov's glove side to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 4:57 of the first.

Chasing a goal, the Islanders' fourth line went to work and got the score knotted up at 1-1 after Matt Martin snuck a wrist shot from the slot past the glove of Flyers netminder Sam Ersson at 12:03 of the first:

The goal was assisted by Kyle MacLean and Mike Reilly. 

Just 18 seconds later, Bo Horvat gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead after he deposited a Mathew Barzal pass off the rush high blocker side at 12:21 of the first:

Casey Cizikas earned the secondary assist.

Flyers head coach John Tortorella decided to put in rookie netminder Ivan Fedotov after Ersson allowed two goals on six shots in the first.

Fedotov, who is 6'7, tied the NHL record set by the tower that was Ben Bishop for the tallest goalie to ever play in the league. 

Early in the second, the Flyers tied the score courtesy of Travis Sanheim, who beat Varlamov glove side from downtown, a rather similar goal to the one Varlamov allowed in the first:

In his first taste of NHL action, the Russian goalie was sharp early. He stopped Mathew Barzal on the breakaway before he squared up to a MacLean shot, holding on for no rebound:

On the Islanders' 16th shot of the period, they finally solved Fedotov as Andes Lee redirected an Alexander Romanov wrist shot at 17:54 of the second to give New York a 3-2 lead:

Bo Horvat, who took a puck to the face with 8:08 to play in the second, left the ice and didn't return until a few minutes into the third period. 

The Flyers pushed in the third period, outshooting the Islanders 15-3, but Varlamov stood tall, turning aside prime scoring chances off Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost shots.

With 1:10 to play, Varlamov gloved a Travis Konecny one-timer to keep the Islanders in front. 

But, with nine seconds to go, Frost battled and got the puck over the goal line to force overtime with :

Despite giving up a regulation win, the Islanders got their second point as Brock Nelson scored 1:24 into overtime for the game-winner and his 30th goal of the season, assisted by Brock Nelson:

UP NEXT: The Islanders host the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night at UBS Arena. 

LINES: 

Casey Cizikas - Bo Horvat - Mathew Barzal

Pierre Engvall - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri

Anders Lee - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Hudson Fasching

Matt Martin - Kyle MacLean - Cal Clutterbuck

Alexander Romanov - Noah Dobson

Adam Pelech - Ryan Pulock

Mike Reilly - Robert Bortuzzo

Semyon Varlamov

Ilya Sorokin