Islanders again come back from two goals down in third, beat Rangers at the Garden
Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov, Anders Lee and teammates celebrate their 4-3 win against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Islanders are doing more in their dominant third periods this season by doing less. Less deviation from their game plan. No panic in their play.
So, for the second time in two nights, they overcame a two-goal deficit heading into the third period for another stunning comeback victory, this time a 4-3 win over the rival Rangers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. On Monday night, it was a 4-3 overtime win over the Flames at UBS Arena.
“I think one of our issues last year was we’d go down and we’d start trying to jump up too much,” said defenseman Scott Mayfield of last season’s playoff miss. “We’d start trying to do too much. Make plays that we shouldn’t be making. They’d put a fourth one in, a fifth one in. Then it’s out of reach. Now, we play within our game. We just keep going to work.”
Defenseman Adam Pelech brought the Islanders within 3-2 just 14 seconds into the third period. Brock Nelson’s power-play one-timer from the right circle tied it at 12:46. And Anders Lee’s goal at the crease at 14:30 was the winner.
Semyon Varlamov stopped a season-high 37 shots, keeping the Islanders within one as he denied Jimmy Vesey’s breakaway at 7:42 of the third period.
“That’s huge,” Nelson said. “That’s a turning point.”
The Islanders (9-5-0) have now outscored opponents 25-11 in the third period.
“That belief and that confidence, a lot of times it comes with results,” said Kyle Palmieri, who opened the scoring on the power play at 6:04 of the first period and notched his 400th career point with the primary assist on Pelech’s goal. “You can talk about last year all you want but this team, we believe in each other. We have confidence in each other. Whether it’s two goals, one goal, couple of minutes left, we’re ready to take our best shot at it.”
“I think our guys have a lot of heart and they believe and they don’t quit,” coach Lane Lambert said.
The Rangers extended their lead to 3-1 with second-period power play goals from Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck as the Islanders took three minors in the period.
That included Oliver Wahlstrom’s offensive-zone interference as he leveled Mika Zibanejad at 7:53.
Wahlstrom, the 11th overall pick in the 2018 draft who the franchise believes has the potential to turn into the top-line complement Mathew Barzal craves, was in the midst of many of Lambert’s in-game line changes.
Lambert dropped Wahlstrom him Barzal’s right wing to Casey Cizikas’ fourth line with Cal Clutterbuck out with an unspecified injury. Clutterbuck exited after the first period on Monday night. Nikita Soshnikov, playing his third game of the season, curiously started on Barzal’s line with Lee.
“We wanted to see Oliver a little bit more up and down,” Lambert said. “And with Casey and Marty [Matt Martin] that gives him a good opportunity do that.”
Wahlstrom wound up with two shots in 9:10 and hit the crossbar in the second period.
In one first-period sequence, Wahlstrom turned the puck over in the offensive zone, hung his head as he skated back on defense then, after the whistle, slammed the bench door as he exited the ice. Shortly after that, Lambert was seen gently chatting with Wahlstrom on the bench, seemingly trying to calm him while patting his shoulders.
By the end of the second period, Wahlstrom was back on Barzal’s wing with Soshnikov skating in Clutterbuck’s spot.
Barzal notched his team-high 15th assist — though he has yet to score a goal — with the secondary helper on Nelson’s power play goal.
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.
