Dec 11, 2023; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders celebrate their overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Salus-USA TODAY Sports
ELMONT, N.Y. — The New York Islanders are still running into third-period bugs, but they are still finding ways to win.
Bo Horvat lifted home the overtime game-winner 46 seconds into the extra frame to lift the Islanders to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night at UBS Arena to quickly erase Morgan Reilly’s equalizer for the visitors with 6.4 seconds left in regulation, assisted by former Islander John Tavares’ 1,000th career point.
“It’s a lot better than dragging it out in a shootout or waiting until the very end,” Horvat said. “It was a great win and we’ll be happy with ourselves.”
In the opening seconds of overtime, goaltender Ilya Sorokin’s robbery on Toronto star Auston Matthews — who scored earlier in the night — sparked a 2-on-1 the other way with Mathew Barzal and Horvat. From the left circle, Barzal sent a cross-ice pass to Horvat at the opposite dot where he roofed his chance just inside the right post.
“Honestly, as soon as [Barzal] passed, I just wanted to make sure I got it up over his pad and tried to get the top part of the net and,” Horvat said of his winner. “Thankfully, I put it in the right spot.”
The Islanders scored three goals in 11:10 between the first and second periods behind Brock Nelson, Casey Cizikas, and Kyle Palmieri while pulling out their second consecutive overtime victory. Nelson and Palmieri recorded two points while defenseman Noah Dobson added three assists. New York (13-7-7) has won three in a row, five of its last six games, and has recorded at least one point in 12 of its last 13 games despite squandering a 3-1 lead.
Tavares, who controversially left the team to join the Maple Leafs in the summer of 2018, entered Monday night needing two points to reach 1,000 in his career. He did just that…
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