Brock Nelson scored 1:25 into overtime and the New York Islanders kept their hopes for the playoffs alive with a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.
Anders Lee, Bo Horvat, and Matt Martin also scored for the Islanders, who are now just four points behind Philadelphia for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The New York team has two more games to play than the Flyers.
Nelson expressed the team's urgency, saying, “We treated this game as a must-win, particularly because we are closely pursuing this specific team. We really need to earn these points.”
Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves to help the Islanders secure their third win in 11 games.
Nelson scored his 30th goal of the season after Morgan Frost turned over the puck in his own zone, tying him with Horvat for the team lead in goals.
Frost, Noah Cates, and Travis Sanheim scored for the Flyers, who have lost three consecutive games and eight of their last 10.
Frost's goal with 10 seconds left in regulation forced overtime and secured a crucial point for the Flyers, who are hanging on to the final playoff spot.
Islanders coach Patrick Roy commented, “No one was pleased when that goal went in because we understood its significance. However, we maintained our focus and scored a crucial goal. … We might not be glad to give them one point today, but it could benefit us with two points in the future.”
Sam Ersson started in goal and conceded two goals on six shots in the opening period. He was substituted by Ivan Fedotov, who joined the Flyers roster after his KHL contract was canceled following his team's elimination from the playoffs in the top Russian hockey league. The 6-foot-7 Fedotov made his NHL debut by taking over in the second period and made 15 of his 24 saves in that period.
Flyers coach John Tortorella remarked, “There are individuals who either don't know how to play or lack the ability to perform in these situations. That's why I'm happy we're facing them. As a team, we need to figure things out and address what we will become. The performance in the second period wearing the Philadelphia Flyers uniform was embarrassing.”
Fedotov was immediately tested and made a glove save on a breakaway by Matthew Barzal early in the second period, earning a standing ovation from the Philadelphia fans.
Fedotov became the fifth goalie to play for the Flyers this season, a situation that became unsettled after Carter Hart took a leave of absence from the team before being charged by police in London, Ontario, with sexual assault dating back to an alleged incident in 2019 involving members of the 2018 Hockey Canada World Junior Championship team.
Tortorella expressed his admiration for Fedotov, stating, “I put him in a very tough position – and he was the only player to show up in the second period.”
Tortorella did acknowledge the team's strong performance in the third period, during which they outshot the Islanders 19-3.
Penguins defeated the Rangers with a score of 5 to 2.
Sidney Crosby scored two goals and assisted on another, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves to help Pittsburgh beat New York, ending the Rangers’ five-game winning streak.
Bryan Rust scored two goals and Emil Bemstrom added one for Pittsburgh, breaking their four-game losing streak in New York. The Penguins improved to 14-9-3 in their last 26 games against the Rangers. They had lost both previous home games against the Rangers this season and were playing their only game at Madison Square Garden.
Kaapo Kakko and Jack Roslovic scored goals for the Rangers, and Igor Shesterkin finished with 16 saves.
Red Wings defeated the Lightning with a score of 4 to 2.
David Perron scored the go-ahead goal with 2:40 remaining as Detroit ended their four-game winless streak with a 4-2 win against Tampa Bay.
Perron scored a rebound to break a 2-2 tie as the Red Wings won the last game of their five-game road trip. Patrick Kane, Robby Fabbri, and Lucas Raymond also scored, and Alex Lyon made 34 saves to help the Red Wings move within one point of the Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Anthony Cirelli and Steven Stamkos scored for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 28 saves.
Maple Leafs defeated the Panthers with a score of 6 to 4.
Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 61st and 62nd goals of the season and assisted on another as Toronto built a four-goal lead before narrowly winning against Florida.
Nicholas Robertson and Matthew Knies also had a goal and an assist each for Toronto, while Tyler Bertuzzi and David Kampf provided the rest of the offense.
Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves for the Leafs, who were without five regulars, including star winger Mitch Marner (high ankle sprain) for an 11th straight game.
Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and two assists for Florida. Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, and Brandon Montour also scored. Sergei Bobrovsky allowed five goals on 16 shots through two periods before getting the hook. Anthony Stolarz made six saves in relief.
Blue Jackets defeated the Avalanche with a score of 4 to 1.
Alex Nylander scored twice and the Columbus Blue Jackets used a three-goal second period to beat the Colorado Avalanche for their second straight home win.
Kirill Marchenko, Cole Sillinger, and Chris Wagner also scored for last-place Columbus. Daniil Tarasov stopped 46 shots in his first game against the Avalanche.
Chris Wagner scored and Justus Annunen had 21 saves for the Avalanche, who remain tied at 100 points with the Vancouver Canucks, three points behind the Dallas Stars for the Western Conference lead.
Marchenko broke a scoreless tie at 9:35 of the second period, sliding the puck between Annunen’s pads on the rush for his second goal in two games and his 20th of the season. Johnny Gaudreau’s secondary assist was his team-leading 56th point and 45 assists.
Blues defeated the Oilers with a score of 3 to 2.
Brandon Saad scored 2:09 into overtime to help the St. Louis Blues beat the Edmonton Oilers.
Brayden Schenn got two goals and Jordan Binnington saved 35 shots to help St. Louis get better with a record of 8-2-1 in its last 11 games. The Blues are three points behind Los Angeles for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
Mattias Ekholm and Leon Draisaitl scored, and Stuart Skinner made 26 saves for Edmonton, which had won three straight.
Saad scored his 25th goal of the season for the victory in the extra period.
Draisaitl got his 39th on a pass from Connor McDavid with 5:25 remaining in the third period to tie the score 2-2. Both Drasaitl and McDavid extended their points streaks to eight games.
Schenn one-timed a feed from Kasperi Kapanen for his second of the game and 17th of the season 1:44 into the third period to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead.
Ekholm scored his ninth goal of the season on a slap shot from just inside the blue line 7:05 into the first period to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead.
JETS 4, KINGS 3
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Cole Perfetti scored twice and Kyle Connor contributed a trio of assists as the Winnipeg Jets snapped a six-game losing skid with a victory over the Los Angeles Kings.
The Jets went on the game’s first power play midway through the third period with the score tied 3-3. Perfetti fired a low shot past Kings goalie Cam Talbot two seconds after the man advantage expired.
Josh Morrissey had a goal and assist and Sean Monahan also scored for the Jets. Perfetti registered a helper on Morrissey’s second-period tally. Laurent Brossoit made 25 saves for Winnipeg.
Viktor Arvidsson, Kevin Fiala and Anze Kopitar scored for the Kings. Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov had two assists and Talbot stopped 28 shots for Los Angeles.
Both sides have struggled recently, with Winnipeg going 0-5-1 heading into the match. The Kings have now lost three straight.
Monday’s game was tied 1-1 after the first period and 3-3 heading into the third.
