NHL

New York Islanders at Carolina Hurricanes

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Final
5 - 4

Mathew Barzal has goal and 3 assists, Islanders outlast Hurricanes 5-4 in OT

Mathew Barzal nets OT winner for the Islanders

Barzal added three assists and Semyon Varlamov stopped 39 shots to help the Islanders win for the fourth time in six games.

Kyle Palmieri, Pierre Engvall, Bo Horvat and Simon Holmstrom also scored for New York.

A loss Tuesday night loss to New Jersey didn’t sit well with the Islanders, coach Lane Lambert said. New York led 4-2 in the third period and allowed New Jersey to score the winner with 23 seconds left.

“We needed to bounce back,” Lambert said. “I thought the last eight minutes, we played pretty darn good. It was a darn shame that the puck went in at the end (of regulation) but Varlamov was outstanding and it was nice to get rewarded.”

The Islanders had lost four games in overtime this season without a win before breaking through on Thursday.

“It was nice to get the monkey off our back as a group,” Barzal said. “We were trying not to clock watch, with what’s been going on. We found a way to get back on the horse.”

Aho scored with goalie Pyotr Kochetkov off for an extra skater, beating Varlamov and the clock.

“You’re leading 4-3 and you give up a goal like that and you don’t want to lose the game,” Varlamov said. “You lose the game and everybody’s miserable, right? We wanted to make sure we got a ‘W.’ It’s a great feeling.”

Jalen Chatfield, Jordan Staal and Jack Drury added goals for Carolina. Kochetkov made 11 saves.

Palmieri beat Kochetkov with a backhander on a power play at 6:41 in the third period to break a 3-3 tie. A delay-of-game penalty on Staal gave the Islanders the power play.

The Islanders didn’t have a shot attempt for the first 12 minutes of the second period, and only 10 shots on goal in the first 40 minutes, but still managed to take a 3-2 lead into the third period.

Engvall skated past Jesperi Kotkaniemi from the right boards to the slot and knuckled a low shot between Kochetkov’s pads to give New York a 3-2 lead with 1:57 left in the second.

UP NEXT

Islanders: At Florida on Saturday.

Hurricanes: Host Buffalo on Saturday night.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 8:08 Jalen Chatfield Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Michael Bunting (10), Dmitry Orlov (8)
Goal 1st Period 18:00 Bo Horvat Goal (7) Tip-In, assists: Mathew Barzal (14), Anders Lee (3)
Goal 2nd Period 2:01 Jordan Staal Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: Jordan Martinook (6), Jaccob Slavin (9)
Goal 2nd Period 15:59 Simon Holmstrom Goal (6) Backhand, assists: Jean-Gabriel Pageau (7)
Goal 2nd Period 18:03 Pierre Engvall Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Mathew Barzal (15), Noah Dobson (14)
Goal 3rd Period 0:39 Jack Drury Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: Stefan Noesen (7), Martin Necas (9)
Goal 3rd Period 6:41 Kyle Palmieri Goal (6) Backhand, assists: Noah Dobson (15), Mathew Barzal (16)
Goal 3rd Period 19:57 Sebastian Aho Goal (6) Backhand, assists: Jordan Staal (6), Brent Burns (5)
Goal 4th Period 2:46 Mathew Barzal Goal (7) Snap Shot, assists: Noah Dobson (16)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/nyi.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYI https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/car.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCAR
31 Blocked Shots 10
22 Hits 15
10 Takeaways 8
16 Shots 43
1 Power Play Goals 0
4 Power Play Opportunities 3
25.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
1 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
34 Faceoffs Won 29
54.0 Faceoff Win Percent 46.0
7 Giveaways 8
3 Total Penalties 4
6 Penalty Minutes 8
Carolina Hurricanes Carolina Hurricanes Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Alexander Nikishin, D Day-To-Day Dec 23
William Carrier, LW Out Dec 23
Jaccob Slavin, D Injured Reserve Dec 22
Jordan Martinook, LW Out Dec 22
Seth Jarvis, C Injured Reserve Dec 22
New York Islanders New York Islanders Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Bo Horvat, C Out Dec 22
Ilya Sorokin, G Out Dec 22
Kyle Palmieri, C Injured Reserve Nov 30

Game Information

Lenovo Center

Location: Raleigh, NC
Attendance: 18,700 | Capacity:

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 22 11 47 3
Philadelphia 19 10 45 7
NY Islanders 20 13 44 4
Washington 19 13 43 5
NY Rangers 19 16 42 4
New Jersey 20 16 41 1
Pittsburgh 15 12 39 9
Columbus 15 15 36 6
Full Standings