Islanders Come Back; Down Penguins 4-3 in Shootout

ELMONT, NY — The New York Islanders (5-6-2) erased a 3-1 third-period deficit to come back and defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins (5-7-2) 4-3 in a shootout on Tuesday night in UBS Arena. Bo Horvat scored a filthy shootout goal that lifted the Islanders over the Penguins.

The Islanders needed this win so badly. After being outplayed by a significantly wide margin, they found their footing on special teams.

Yes, that’s right. The 2024-25 New York Islanders used special teams as the springboard to a rousing comeback victory. After falling behind 3-1, Simon Holmstrom scored his first of the year on the power play with a slick move to his backhand, roofing one over a sprawled Alex Nedeljkovic.

Three minutes later, Jean-Gabriel Pageau tied the game after Horvat found him in the slot with a smooth pass that Pageau fired quickly past Nedeljkovic. Anders Lee had almost scored twice with a deflection and rebound try just prior, and it felt like the comeback was inevitable.

Bob Grove, the great Pittsburgh statistician, pointed out that the Penguins’ last five two-goal leads have been blown four times, including tonight. Grove also provided statistics showing that the Penguins had gone 41-21-8, with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the same line. The Islanders beat the Penguins anyway, snapping their two-game winning streak.

Crosby and Malkin played their parts. Crosby got the Penguins going with his 598th career goal and fifth in the last three games. The goal stood after Islanders’ Head Coach Patrick Roy challenged for offsides when Noel Acciari did not get off the ice fast enough during a change, but the goal stood to Roy’s dismay.

Kyle Palmieri equalized in the second period with his team-leading sixth of the year after he batted a puck out of midair off a Maxim Tsyplakov deflection. The goal also meant Palmieri now has as many goals against the Penguins in his career (13) as he does against any other team in the NHL.

On the power play, Malkin squeaked through Ilya Sorokin with a one-time blast that Sorokin wanted back. Crosby set a difficult screen for Sorokin to battle through, and he almost got it anyway. Other than that blemish, the penalty kill had a sparkling performance, denying the Penguins 3/4 times.

Early in the third, Jesse Pujlujarvi and Michael Bunting came in on a two-on-one, which Bunting buried after a nice exchange between the two. Things felt pretty bleak at that moment for the Islanders, who entered just 1-3-1 on home ice to start the year.

Then, Holmstrom struck on the power play, which went 1/4 but looked strong overall, and the whole vibe of the game flipped. The Islanders carried the play, Pageau equalized, and the game went into overtime.

In overtime, both teams got power plays, and both teams killed them off with ease. Horvat scored the lone shootout goal, while Sorokin denied all three Penguins’ attempts at goal.