The Islanders have a knack for overtime.
Their 4-3 win over the Devils at Prudential Center on Tuesday night was their seventh overtime victory of the season. It was also the 13th time the Isles had to compete in the extra period of 3-on-3 play.
Anders Lee, who recorded the game-winning tally with just 51 seconds left in OT, had his first shot of the additional period blocked by Nikita Gusev. Devils netminder Mackenzie Blackwood made a save on Jordan Eberle shortly after that before both Anthony Beauvillier and Brock Nelson missed a shot each.
A takeaway from Mathew Barzal in the neutral zone allowed the Islanders to gather themselves in the offensive zone before Lee sent the puck right over Blackwood’s shoulder to end the game.
“Little bit of a regroup there,” Lee said of what he saw on the overtime goal. “You see it a lot more in overtime now, if you don’t like what you got you turn around. We came back and I just kind of popped it up to Devon [Toews] and he found me there in the slot. I tried to use the D-guys as a bit of a screen.”
The Islanders have only lost three games in overtime this season, with the last one coming against the Sharks on Nov. 23. For comparison, the Bruins have lost in overtime on 11 occasions. The Isles also have participated in three shootouts, with their only loss coming against the Ducks on Dec. 21.
“We have [done well in overtime],” Trotz said following the win. “We sort of have a plan and we’ve been getting good goaltending and we’ve been pretty selective with our shots when we [play in overtime]. Today, not as much. We threw a couple of pucks into loose areas and it ended up being pretty hairy on us.”
Noah Dobson, the youngest player on the Islanders’ roster, turned 20 Tuesday.
The Isles’ No. 12 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft is the sixth youngest active blueliner in the NHL and is one of just four defensemen from his draft class to appear in over 10 games this season.
Ryan Pulock is just the fourth defenseman in Islanders history to compete in at least 168 consecutive games.
The 25-year-old is now 29 games away from tying Gerry Hart for the organization’s third longest streak of 198 games.
