Bo Horvat scored with 2:06 left in overtime Monday night for the visiting New York Islanders, who earned a much-needed win by edging the Dallas Stars 3-2.
Mathew Barzal capped a marathon shift by weaving his way in and out of traffic in the Stars’ zone until he finally eluded Esa Lindell and passed to Horvat, who fired a shot beyond Scott Wedgewood’s glove for his second overtime winner against Dallas this season.
Horvat scored 41 seconds into overtime of a 3-2 win in Elmont, N.Y., on Jan. 21, when Patrick Roy made his debut as Islanders head coach.
Ryan Pulock scored in the first period Monday and Kyle MacLean scored in the second for the Islanders, who won for just the second time in seven games (2-3-2) and improved to 5-5-3 under Roy.
Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves for New York, which is five points behind the third-place Philadelphia Flyers in the Metropolitan Division and seven points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning in the race for the second wild card in the East.
Matt Duchene and Logan Stankoven scored for the Stars, who have lost five of six (1-2-3). Wedgewood recorded 25 saves.
The Islanders took the lead after an end-to-end rush late in the first period when Pulock took a pass from Simon Holmstrom in the high slot and shuffled the puck before firing a shot past Wedgewood’s stick with 4:01 left.
Duchene collected his 800th career point by scoring on the power play 7:11 into the second period when he buried the rebound off a shot by Thomas Harley.
The teams traded goals late in the second. The Islanders took a short-lived lead after an impressive individual effort by Pierre Engvall, whose initial high shot was knocked down by Wedgewood. Engvall was turned back on a rebound attempt but then backhanded a pass to MacLean, who sent a shot past Wedgewood as he was surrounded by four teammates in or near the crease with 4:36 remaining.
Stankoven celebrated his 21st birthday in style by scoring his first NHL goal at 18:17 of the second. Wyatt Johnston picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and retained control while skating around Adam Pelech after being knocked down by Noah Dobson. Johnston passed to Stankoven, whose shot sailed through traffic and past Sorokin.
–Field Level Media
