Nelson's OT goal lifts Islanders past Maple Leafs 6-5
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Brock Nelson's second goal of the game at 2:42 of overtime lifted the New York Islanders to a 6-5 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night.
Trailing 5-4 late in the third period, the Islanders pulled goalie Thomas Greiss and tied it on Andrew Ladd's deflection with 1:29 left.
Josh Bailey had a goal and two assists, Ryan Strome a goal and an assist, and Nikolay Kulemin also scored for the Islanders. New York stopped a two-game skid and improved to 6-0-2 in its last eight at home.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On the winning goal, Nelson got a pass from Bailey and beat Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen on the blocker side. That gave the Islanders their first win this season in a game they trailed after two periods (1-12-2).
Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner, Nikita Soshnikov, Zach Hyman and William Nylander scored for Toronto, which finished 2-4-0 on a season-high six-game trip. Morgan Rielly had three assists and Nikita Zaitsev added two.
Nylander, who had his first career hat trick in a win at Boston on Saturday night, had given Toronto a 5-4 lead with 2:01 left in regulation when took a pass from Rielly and beat Greiss on the blocker side.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ladd tied it with his 12th goal.
Bailey made it 4-all with 6 1/2 minutes remaining on rebound for his 11th. It marked the third straight game the Islanders evened it after trailing 4-3 going into the third period.
They lost 5-4 at Detroit on Friday night, and then by the same score in overtime at home to Carolina on Saturday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Marner put the Maple Leafs ahead 3-2 in the second period off a centering pass through traffic from Tyler Bozak for his 14th goal at 5:12.
With Rielly off for holding on the game's first penalty, Hyman scored short-handed as he brought the puck up the left side and fired it past Greiss' blocker at 9:34 for his eighth. It was Hyman's third short-handed score of the season, and the Maple Leafs' fifth.
Strome scored 1:23 into the game as he brought the puck up the left side and knocked in the rebound of his own shot past Andersen for his eighth of the season.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Toronto took the lead with goals 1:24 apart later in the first. Soshnikov tied it with his fourth on a slap shot from about 45 feet with 6:33 left.
Matthews, stopped by Greiss on a point-blank attempt earlier in the period, gave the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead. It was the rookie's team-high 24th.
Kulemin tied it with 1:47 left in the opening period. Andersen made a pad save on a hard shot by Casey Cizikas, but Kulemin knocked in the rebound from in front for his ninth. It was his third goal in eight games against his former team.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NOTES: Andersen has now given up 19 goals on 114 shots over his last four outings, including allowing three on eight shots over 11:12 at Dallas last Tuesday. .... Maple Leafs D Connor Carrick played in his 100th career game. ... The Islanders also won the teams' first meeting, 5-1 here on Oct. 30. The teams conclude the season series Feb. 14 at Toronto. ... The Islanders, 6-10-4 on the road this season, play 21 of their last 31 games away from Barclays Center. ... New York RW Cal Clutterbuck missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury sustained Friday night at Detroit.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Host Dallas on Tuesday in the opener of a four-game trip.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Islanders: At Philadelphia on Thursday night.
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