Bo Horvat of the New York Islanders scores the game-winning goal against Ilya Samsonov of the Toronto Maple Leafs at 44 seconds of overtime at UBS Arena on Dec. 11, 2023 in Elmont, New York. The Islanders defeated the Maple Leafs 4-3.Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Bo Horvat scored 46 seconds into overtime as the New York Islanders recovered after giving up a two-goal lead and beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Monday night.
Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri each had a goal and an assist, and Casey Cizikas also scored to help the Islanders win their third straight game. Noah Dobson had three assists and Ilya Sorokin finished with 36 saves.
In the extra period, Horvat scored on a feed from Mathew Barzal to push the Islanders ahead of Philadelphia into second place in the Metropolitan Division – trailing only the rival New York Rangers.
“You are trying to skate as hard as you can to make a clear cut two-on-one,” Horvat said after the Islanders improved to 8-1-2 in their last 11 games. “With a saucer pass like that you don’t want to just whack at it and hope for the best. You kind of got to let it sit a little bit and pick your spot. You are trying to think of that in a matter of half a second and thankfully it worked.”
John Tavares had a goal and an assist to reach 1,000 career points, and Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly also scored as Toronto snapped a two-game win streak. William Nylander had two assists and Ilya Samsonov made 27 saves.
The Islanders led 3-1 before Tavares pulled the Maple Leafs within one as he redirected a shot from defenceman Conor Timmins at 7:43 of the second period.
Rielly tied it with 7 seconds remaining in regulation. Nylander fired a puck toward the net that bounced off Tavares and Rielly controlled the loose puck.
“It hurts but at the same time you’re sitting there with so little time left and you’re banking one (point),” Nelson said of the team’s mindset following the late equalizer. “It’s just a new game and you have to get back to it. You can’t sit there and think about what happened and what went wrong. Just wipe it and try to get the next one.”
Tavares became the 98th player in NHL history to hit the 1,000-points mark (435 goals, 565 assists) on the play.
“Happy that it came in a really good moment for the team and it’s been a great ride so far, great journey,” Tavares said. Obviously you want to celebrate in a win, but very proud of it. ... And obviously, for me, the uniqueness of doing it where I played my first nine years of my career and a big part of who I am. And, the way this place impacted me it was tremendous. Really unique and cool to do it here. You know, place means a lot,”
Matthews had a power-play goal to open the scoring at 5:50 of the first period. He deftly received a quick pass from Mitch Marner on his backhand and quickly fired the puck with his forehand past Sorokin into the top corner of the net for his 19th.
Nelson tied it at 9:20 of the first with his 12th. Palmieri saw Nelson darting toward an open area in the slot and slid a backhand pass to set up the one-timer.
Cizikas fought off a check from Maple Leafs forward Max Domi and roofed a backhand past Samsonov to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead with 1:27 remaining in the opening period.
“Their line finds ways to forecheck the hell out of other teams and find ways to get pucks turned over, and they go to the net,” Palmieri said of the Islanders fourth line. “Casey is a great hockey player and that is a great goal.”
Palmieri gave the Islanders a two-goal lead with his eighth at 1:10 of the second. Nelson found his linemate all alone in the slot with a pretty pass from behind the net.
Up next
Maple Leafs: At the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.
Islanders: Host Anaheim on Wednesday night.