This is pretty incredible.
The New York Islanders extended their point streak to 15 games last night, with a 5-4 overtime win in Pittsburgh. Here’s the game recap.
Bryan Rust opened the scoring on a Penguins power play midway through the period, snapping a shot past Semyon Varlamov’s glove from the slot. Then a few minutes later, Brandon Tanev tipped home John Marino’s point shot to increase the lead to 2-0. I know it was tipped but Varlamov needs to have that one considering it never left the ice. The Islanders got some very solid chances but Matt Murray was great in the period.
The Islanders cut the lead in half in the second period when Nick Leddy came down the boards towards the goal line and fed a pass to Anthony Beauvillier, who beat Murray from a good location. Then later, Leddy made a great play to pick off a pass and the puck ended up getting to Derick Brassard who entered the Penguins’ zone and put it back to Leddy. He then ripped a shot that was deflected in by Brock Nelson to tie the game.
The Penguins regained the lead about nine minutes later though, as Brandon Tanev banked in a wrap around off of Adam Pelech’s skate for his second goal of the game. A deflection is a deflection but if Varlamov had been quicker getting over to the post, it was very preventable.
In the third period, Jake Guentzel made a great play to control Alex Galchenyuk’s pass off his skate, then take it to the forehand and beat Varlamov low to the stick side. The Penguins were ahead 4-2 and once again, it didn’t look great for New York.
The Islanders got life with under five minutes to go, however, as Jordan Eberle took the puck towards the net and fooled everyone, as he dished a great pass to Josh Bailey who cut the lead to one. Then with the net empty and about a minute and a half to go, Ryan Pulock tied the game with a blast from the point and once again, the Islanders had erased a multi-goal lead in the third period.
In overtime, Anders Lee came so close to ending it but Murray was able to make the save in close. But then later in the extra frame, two of the three Penguins skaters had left the zone, leaving a 2-on-1 for the Islanders, where Mat Murray stopped Brock Nelson’s initial shot but Nelson was there to follow-up and tap in the rebound for an Islanders’ win.
Once again, this is a feel-good win for New York. The Islanders outshot Pittsburgh 22-6 in the third period and overtime combined and truthfully, deserved the win. Though Varlamov did need to make some good saves, he’s now allowed 12 goals on his last 97 shots, which isn’t great. But hey, as long as the Islanders keep scoring like this, who cares?
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OTHER ISLANDERS ARTICLES FROM NOVEMBER
Game Recap (Game 18): NYI vs PHI
Game Recap (Game 16): NYI vs FLA
Game Recap (Game 15): NYI vs PIT
Game Recap (Game 14): NYI vs OTT
Game Recap (Game 13): NYI 
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