Nelson nets Islanders wild OT win over Maple Leafs
NEW YORK -- Brock Nelson scored 2:42 into overtime Monday night to give the New York Islanders a wild 6-5 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Barclays Center.
Nelson's second goal capped a frantic back-and-forth affair. Toronto took a 5-4 lead with 2:01 left in the third on a goal by center William Nylander, but Islanders left winger Andrew Ladd answered with the tying score just 32 seconds later.
Ryan Strome. Nikolay Kulemin and Josh Bailey also scored for the Islanders (23-18-10), who are 7-1-2 in their last 10. Goalie Thomas Greiss recorded 27 saves.
Nikita Soshnikov, Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner and Zach Hyman also scored for the Maple Leafs (24-17-10), who have lost four of five (1-3-1) but moved into a tie with the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division. Goalie Frederik Andersen made 28 saves.
Strome provided a hint of things to come in a high-scoring affair when he opened the scoring just 83 seconds after faceoff. Andersen deflected Strome's original shot but could not corral the puck before Strome swooped in and put the rebound in between the goaltender's stick and left arm.
The Maple Leafs took the lead with two goals in a span of 1:24 late in the period. First, Soshnikov caught up to a pass from Nikita Zaitsev at center ice, wound up just past the blue line and, with Islanders defensemen Adam Pelech and Thomas Hickey swooping in, fired a slap shot under Greiss' right arm.
Matthews put the Maple Leafs ahead 2-1 when he took a pass from Morgan Rielly to the left of Greiss and tucked a shot between his legs.
The Islanders tied the score with 1:47 left in the first on a nifty goal by Kulemin, who was positioning himself near the front of the net when Casey Cizikas' shot caromed out of the crease. In one motion, Kulemin managed to change direction, extend his stick and poke the puck under the legs of defenseman Jake Gardner and past the outstretched pad of Andersen.
The Maple Leafs scored the first two goals in the second. Marner's shot from the front of the left faceoff circle sailed past Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy, Toronto left winger James van Riemsdyk and Greiss at 5:12.
A holding penalty on Rielly 8:11 into the period gave the Islanders a power-play opportunity, but the Maple Leafs doubled their lead on Hyman's end-to-end short-handed goal with 10:26 remaining.
The Islanders pulled back within one with 6:12 left in the second, when Strome's pass from behind the net hit Nelson in stride before the latter's shot sailed past Andersen's outstretched glove.
NOTES: The Islanders scratched RW Cal Clutterbuck (lower body) as well as RW Stephen Gionta and D Scott Mayfield. Clutterbuck has missed the last two games and four of the last five contests with separate lower body injuries. ... Beginning Thursday, the Islanders will play 21 of their final 31 games on the road. The St. Louis Blues (30) are the only other NHL team to play as many as 30 home games so far this season. ...The Maple Leafs scratched LW Josh Leivo, D Alexey Marchenko and D Martin Marincin. ... Maple Leafs LW Matt Martin was active two days after a fight with Boston Bruins D Adam McQuaid left him with a cut on his left ear that required several stitches.