Islanders Beat Hurricanes 5-4 in OT Raleigh, NC -- Despite being dominated, the New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/new-york-islanders-phwl-ubs-arena-bridgeport-islanders-total-mortgage-arena] escaped Carolina with a 5-4 overtime win despite blowing the lead in the final seconds of the third. The seesaw battle ended when Mathew Barzal scored 2:45 into the extra session. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAyNTk1MjUzOTM1NDE2MzMy/screenshot-2023-12-01-at-10800-am.png] After what seemed like a simple dump-in, Jalen Chatfield took advantage of Simon Holmstrom and Alexander Romanov's failed box-out, chipping the puck over Semyon Varlamov at 8:08 of the first. The Islanders were getting dominated in terms of offensive zone time, but they remained within one until the top line came through to tie the game with two minutes to play in the opening frame. Lee found Barzal with a cross-zone pass before a quick hesitation created time and space for Bo Horvat to get to the low slot unguarded. In one motion, Horvat redirected Barzal's pass top shelf for his seventh of the season. The Hurricanes took a 2-1 lead at 2:01 of the second after a Jordan Martinook sharp-angle shot produced a rebound. Anders Lee overskated the puck, and Jordan Staal made him pay, rifling the shot glove side. With 11:27 to play in the second, the Islanders were being outshot 6-0 and out-chanced 12-0. Islanders got their first shot attempt of the period at 11:35 of the second, as Pierre Engvall missed the net. Then Kyle Palmieri misses the net seconds late. The Islanders evened the score at 2-2 at 15:59 of the second, as Holmstrom scored his third shorthanded goal of the season after beating Pytor Kochetkov on the backhand following a steal at the Islanders' blue line. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAyNTkyMjc5MTMzNjkyOTQw/usatsi_22003952.jpg] Jean-Gabriel Pageau earned the primary assist. Engvall gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead on their first 5-on-5 shot of the period as he beat Kochetkov through the wickets with 1:57 to play in the second. His second of the season was assisted by Barzal and Noah Dobson. It took the Islanders 39 seconds to blow their one-goal lead as three guys got caught puck-watching as Jack Drury beat Varlamov from the left slot to tie the score at 3-3. With Staal in the box for delay of the game, Kyle Palmieri deflected a Dobson point shot, which was stopped by Kochetkov. However, he didn't. get all of it, and Palmieri tapped the loose puck home to give New York a 4-3 lead with 6:41 to play in the third. Barzal notched his third assist of the night with the secondary helper. The Hurricanes challenged for high-sticking on an earlier play in the sequence, but Toronto deems that it's a good goal. With two seconds to play in regulation, Aho scores with the extra attacker, squeaking one past Varlamov to tie the game at 4-4. Then Barzal to Dobson, back to Barzal for the game-winner. The first OT win this season for the Isles. “Obviously feels nice, not even so much for me, just for our group," Barzal said postgame. "Kind of got the monkey off our back. It's been a few games now where we've had the lead and weren't able to finish it off. So nice to get the monkey off the back for sure as a group." Varlamov, who came up large in overtime with a breakaway save, was happy to see Barzal net that one. "It's awesome. It's the best feeling when the boys score in overtime, and you win the game," Varlamov said after the win. "It's an amazing feeling." UP NEXT: The Islanders battle the Florida Panthers at 6 PM ET Saturday night at Amerant Arena. LINES: Anders Lee - Bo Horvat - Mathew Barzal Pierre Engvall - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri Simon Holmstrom - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Oliver Wahlstrom Julien Gauthier - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck Alex Romanov - Noah Dobson Samuel Bolduc - Ryan Pulock Mike Reilly - Scott Mayfield Semyon Varlamov Ilya Sorokin
