Islanders fend off elimination as Mathew Barzal scores in double overtime for Game 4 win over Hurricanes

No beer cans rained down as the Islanders celebrated a double-overtime win that kept their on-the-brink season alive. After all, this was a first-round game at UBS Arena, not a conference final in the last-ever match at Nassau Coliseum.

Still, the celebration on the ice as the players leaped into each other’s arms — and in the stands as the UBS Arena crowd rose in unison once Mathew Barzal got his stick on defenseman Robert Bortuzzo’s blue-line blast to nudge the puck past Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen for a 3-2 victory that staved off elimination in Saturday afternoon’s Game 4 — was appropriately warranted.

“I was looking at Robert, I thought he scored,” defenseman Noah Dobson said. “It’s great, especially at home. Those are the moments you remember. Huge goals like that in front of our fans. The place went crazy.”

Not quite like Anthony Beauvillier’s overtime winner in the Islanders’ 3-2 victory over the Lightning in Game 6 of their NHL semifinal on June 23, 2021, at the beloved Coliseum. But it still was quite the raucous atmosphere for the Islanders’ first playoff overtime win since that memorable moment.

Game 5 is Tuesday night in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Islanders, who got two goals from an electric Barzal and 42 saves from Semyon Varlamov, are trying to become the fifth team in NHL history to rally from an 0-3 deficit in a best-of-seven series.

“We’re happy with the win,” said Jean-Gabriel Pageau, whose power-play goal on a rebound shot from the left circle at 1:38 of the third period gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead. “To see the guys around with a smile in the room, that’s contagious. We believe in ourselves. All season, we believed we were a playoff team and we had a chance. That’s what we did today. We kept believing.”

It was some validation for the Islanders after they thought they deserved better for their performances in a 3-1 loss in Game 1 and Thursday night’s 3-2 loss in Game 3 at UBS Arena. The Islanders also had a three-goal lead in the second period of their 5-3 loss in Game 2.

“The boys were all in,” Anders Lee said. “We had to be. That one feels good. We earned that one. Just a great hockey game, honestly.”

Lee and defenseman Adam Pelech celebrated Barzal’s winner at 1:24 of the second overtime from the penalty box after a scrum at the buzzer in the first overtime, starting with Lee catching an elbow from Hurricanes defenseman Dmitry Orlov.

For Bortuzzo, at the center of the Islanders’ jubilant mass of bodies, it was a moment of relief after his hooking call on defenseman Jaccob Slavin at 13:34 of the third period led to Stefen Noesen’s power-play redirection at the crease to tie it at 2-2 at 14:08.

“Obviously disappointed to take a penalty in a big moment there,” Bortuzzo said. “Kind of got caught up in a weird change. Regardless, it stings. But this is a group that’s resilient and we pick each other up here when guys make mistakes. You get a chance to contribute and one finds the net.”

The puck came to Bortuzzo at the blue line after yeoman work by Bo Horvat behind the crease on the forecheck to keep Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei from the puck.

“Great forecheck by Bo,” Barzal said. “When we can get a puck stop down and get the forecheck going and slow the play down a little bit down there, we seem to have some success. Great shot by Bobby, trying to find a lane and throw it in an area where there are some bodies and it’s a lucky bounce.”

Frederick Andersen stopped 32 shots for the Hurricanes.

Barzal, with a rising wrist shot over Andersen’s glove, had tied the score at 1-1 at 10:10 of the second period.

The Islanders started strong, taking four of the first five shots in the first period and sustaining pressure with their forecheck. But Lee, trying to get past defenseman Jalen Chatfield in the neutral zone and get the puck into the Hurricanes’ zone, instead was called for tripping at 7:14 of the first period.

That led to Seth Jarvis’ power-play goal at 8:00 as he knocked in the rebound of defenseman Brent Burns’ initial shot.

“You have no idea how proud I am of this group,” coach Patrick Roy said. “It was a team effort. We were very good defensively. We were very good offensively.”

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

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.