Noah Dobson's power-play goal in OT lifts Islanders past Flames
Noah Dobson of the Islanders celebrates his overtime goal against the Flames with teammate Mathew Barzal at UBS Arena on Monday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Two sluggish periods in another slow start certainly was cause for consternation. Ultimately, though, they just provided another chance for the Islanders to show their resiliency.
Mathew Barzal, a big part of the third-period rally that led to Monday night’s 4-3 overtime win over the Flames at UBS Arena, believes that’s a huge difference from last season, when the Islanders missed the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
“We have that feeling again where it doesn’t matter what the score is, we can come back and win,” said Barzal, who had three assists and now has 14 this season. “We lost it a little bit last year.”
This game was headed toward being characterized as a dud before Anders Lee, cleaning up Brock Nelson’s rebound, and Kyle Palmieri, on a blast from the left circle, scored within 59 seconds as the Islanders (8-5-0) tied it at 3 at 11:07 of the third period.
Defenseman Noah Dobson’s four-on-three power-play goal won it with 58.0 seconds left in overtime as the Islanders went past regulation for the first time this season.
Ilya Sorokin made a season-high 43 saves, keeping the Islanders within two goals despite being outshot 30-12 in the first two periods. Per Natural Stat Trick, the Flames had 14 high-danger chances to the Islanders’ nine, including only two in the first two periods.
Until the third period, they rarely created traffic in front of Jacob Markstrom (28 saves). Still, the Flames (5-4-2), playing only their second road game, extended their skid to 0-3-2.
The Islanders have outscored opponents 22-11 in the third period.
“The start was very bad and the finish was really good,” said coach Lane Lambert, who reconstituted his lines once Cal Clutterbuck exited after the first period, most notably putting Barzal together with Lee and Nelson.
That trio created four high-danger chances without allowing one in its 3:57 together, per Natural Stat Trick, and held an 8-1 shot advantage.
“It’s a 60-minute game,” Lee said. “We found a way tonight. They’re not all going to be pretty. But we played a really good final 20.”
It was akin to the Islanders’ stirring 5-4 win over the visiting Stanley Cup champion Avalanche on Oct. 29. The Islanders fell behind 3-0 in the second period before scoring four third-period goals, including the equalizer and go-ahead goal within 17 seconds.
“That Colorado game was one of those games where there’s little moments throughout the year that can really change the course of the season,” Barzal said. “I think that was one of them. I think that played a little bit into tonight, just knowing going into the third we hadn’t had our best game and knowing we could still do it.”
The Islanders were coming off Saturday’s sluggish 3-0 loss to the Red Wings, which snapped a five-game winning streak and closed a three-game Midwest swing.
“You can’t play a slow 40 and play a really good third and expect to win each night in this league,” Dobson said. “Fortunately, we were resilient tonight. But [Tuesday against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden] the start is going to be key.”
The Flames held a 9-0 shot advantage as Mikael Backlund opened the scoring from the slot at 11:16 of the first period. Barzal set up defenseman Sebastian Aho at the left post to tie the score at 1 on the Islanders’ first shot at 12:26.
Elias Lindholm deflected defenseman Noah Hanifin’s shot to make it 2-1 at 16:21 of the first period. Backlund’s second goal, also from the slot, gave the Flames a 3-1 lead at 14:06 of the second period.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
