The New York Islanders came off a frustrating stretch of games last week as they took the ice on Tuesday night at UBS Arena for a divisional matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins. It seemed like the Penguins would win the game, but third period persistence helped the Islanders take the game into extra time where they came away with a win thanks to a Bo Horvat shootout game-winning goal. The Islanders held off a 3-0 comeback from the Ottawa Senators two nights later for another great victory.

The Penguins came to town looking to continue a small win streak that was building with every game. The Islanders were looking to rebound from Sunday’s loss at Madison Square Garden against their cross-town rivals, the New York Rangers.

The Penguins controlled the game in every aspect, leading to the first goal of the game scored by their longtime captain, Sidney Crosby. Islanders head coach Patrick Roy challenged the play for offside, but was unsuccessful. The second line for the Islanders, however, got the team back into the game as Kyle Palmieri once again found the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season. Set up by Horvat and Maxim Tsyplakov, the veteran buried the rebound to tie the game at one.

A penalty from the Islanders gave one of the most dangerous power-play combinations of the 2010s yet another chance to take the lead, and they did just that. An Evgeni Malkin slapshot found the back of the net as Ilya Sorokin wasn’t able to get enough of the puck to make the save.

The Penguins took the 2-1 lead into the intermission, but it wasn’t long before the Penguins beat Sorokin again. Michael Bunting got behind the defense and, with a nifty move, put the puck past Sorokin for the 3-1 lead.

It seemed like the Islanders were down and out of this game, but the leadership skills that Roy talked about after the victory in Buffalo last Friday began to show as the Islanders didn’t quit. With their third-period persistence, they took advantage of a Pittsburgh penalty and scored on the power play. Simon Holmstrom scored his first of the season and only a couple minutes later, Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored his third goal of the season, tying the game 3-3.

The rest of the game, Ilya Sorokin was perfect, not allowing anything to get past him. He finished the game with 32 saves on 35 shots which included the entirety of overtime and a 4-on-3 that he and the defense for the Islanders had to kill.

The game went into a shootout where Sorokin stopped Rickard Rakell, Crosby and Kris Letang, and Horvat scored the only goal against Pittsburgh netminder Alex Nedeljkovic to win the game for the Islanders.

The Islanders took the win over Pittsburgh into their road game against the Ottawa Senators. They started fast and outshot the Senators 5-1 early on. However, no goals were scored on either side as Semyon Varlamov for the Islanders and Anton Forsberg for the Senators both kept the puck out of their respective nets.

With time winding down in the second period, the Islanders were able to find the back of the net not once, but twice, to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission. Anders Lee led the way with his fourth goal of the season and then Pageau followed suit, scoring against his former team with his fourth of the season.

Oliver Wahlstrom joined the scoring party with his first of the season early in the third and the Islanders had full control of the game.

The Senators weren’t done though as they worked the game back to a 3-2 deficit and the Islanders felt the pressure with the home crowd behind their team. Varlamov and the defense held strong, and Bo Horvat eventually scored his fifth goal of the season on an empty-net goal that would seal the 4-2 victory for the Islanders.

The Islanders will host the New Jersey Devils in another key divisional matchup Saturday night at UBS Arena before hitting the road for a five-game road trip.

They will look to continue the success they’ve had without Mathew Barzal and Adam Pelech.

The Islanders also will look to continue the development of Isaiah George, who looks very promising through his first two NHL games and was paired with Noah Dobson on the top defense pairing in Ottawa.

Feature photo courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Andrew Nowel

Andrew Nowel is a hockey nerd and has been following the game for many years. He grew up a Devils fan because of his Dad and also roots for the Penguins and has been rooting for them since he was in 4th grade. Andrew is currently in college studying Journalism and Business with a concentration in Sports Production and Broadcasting at Canisius University in Buffalo, New York.