Islanders score four unanswered goals as Panthers lose for the third time in four games
Marc Gatcomb, Maxim Tsyplakov and Noah Dobson scored in a span of a little more than six minutes in the third period Sunday night for the New York Islanders, who stormed back to beat the Florida Panthers 4-2 in Belmont Park, New York.
The Islanders (30-28-8) were outshooting the Panthers 27-12 when Gatcomb began the comeback by collecting his own rebound and scoring on a wraparound at the 6:29 mark of the third.
New York tied the score with 8:44 left when Mike Reilly sent a clearing pass through the neutral zone to a streaking Tsyplakov, who nudged a shot through Vitek Vanecek's legs to cap the breakaway.
Reilly returned to action Sunday after missing more than four months following surgery to address a heart condition discovered after he suffered a concussion on Nov. 1.
Dobson collected the game-winner just 17 seconds later. The defenseman intercepted a pass by Uvis Balinskis and the puck bounced to Anders Lee before Dobson picked it up, bore in on Vanecek and flicked a shot over his glove.
The Panthers (41-24-3) pulled Vanecek with a little under two minutes remaining. Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin stopped three shots during a pair of frantic pileups in the crease before New York won a faceoff and Simon Holmstrom scored an empty netter from his own end with 6.3 seconds left.
The win was just the second this season in which the Islanders overcame a two-goal third-period deficit. They beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3, in a shootout on Nov. 5.
Sorokin made 22 saves Sunday for the Islanders, who snapped a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) and moved within four points of the New York Rangers in the race for the Eastern Conference's second wild-card spot.
Sam Reinhart scored one minute into the second and Aleksander Barkov doubled the lead at the 4:48 mark for the Panthers, who lost for the second time in as many nights and for the third time in four games (1-3-0). Florida fell 3-1 to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
Vanecek recorded 30 saves for Florida, which visits the Columbus Blue Jackets next on Thursday.
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