Lee scores with 32 seconds left, Islanders edge Panthers for 5th win in row

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Anders Lee scored with 32 seconds remaining in regulation for the New York Islanders, who won their fifth straight game by defeating the Florida Panthers 5-4 at UBS Arena on Sunday.

The Islanders captain picked up the puck in the neutral zone, skated down the right wing, and cut around Aaron Ekblad before tucking a shot inside Sergei Bobrovsky's right pad.

Lee's goal came after Sam Reinhart tied it 4-4 for the Panthers with 1:58 remaining. With Bobrovsky pulled for an extra attacker, Reinhart was able to beat David Rittich blocker side through a heavy screen from inside the blue line.

“I finally got a puck I liked tonight,” Lee said. “It was one of those nights that we just had to stick with it. When it's not going well or things aren't going well, we don't quit on the game. We're going to find a way. We get put out there with 50 seconds left in our zone, and I found a way to get around the defenseman there and slide it past him.”

Matthew Schaefer scored twice, including his 20th goal of the season, and also set career highs in points (three) and plus/minus rating (plus-4) for the Islanders (35-21-5), who were coming off a 4-3 overtime win at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. Rittich made 29 saves.

“I thought it was a really solid team effort,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “Like (Bo) Horvat’s line was flying. He was skating well with (Mathew) Barzal and (Ondrej) Palat, and I thought they had a strong game. I mean, I thought it was a great goal by Lee on that one, coming around like that and beating [Bobrovsky] to the net. I mean, it was great. And again, coming back from 0-2 and winning the game again. ... I hope it's something we don't have to do every night, but I love the fact that we don't change our game, we stay focused, and we do what we have to do.”

Sam Bennett scored twice, and Matthew Tkachuk had three assists for the Panthers (30-27-3), who have lost two of three since the Olympic break and are 2-7-0 in their past nine overall. Bobrovsky made 21 saves.

“It’s tough to lose that way,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “I don’t think there was a lot of action, but the puck was never particularly well-controlled. That will be the story for us. We had pucks just inside their line that we didn’t get to the goal line.”

Sandis Vilmanis gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 3:44 of the first period. He gloved down A.J. Greer's pass on a 2-on-1 rush and slid a backhand under the five-hole of Rittich from the bottom edge of the right circle.

Bennett extended the lead to 2-0 while on a power play at 14:54. He won a face-off before getting the puck back from Ekblad and beating Rittich glove side from the top of the left circle.

Schaefer cut the deficit to 2-1 at 18:01 with a one-timer from the right circle that redirected off a number of bodies before deflecting off Gustav Forsling’s left leg and the crossbar before banking in off the back of Bobrovsky.

"I try to [shoot between players' legs] as much as I can," Schaefer said. "Sometimes it might not work, but you just have to find the lanes. ... You know, some goals could be shaky, so I mean, they're not pretty goals, like tonight. I mean, I'll take any goals."

Carson Soucy tied the game 2-2 at 7:28 of the second period. During 4-on-4 play, Simon Holmstrom had the puck poked off his stick in the top of the left circle, but it went right to Soucy, who quickly shot it glove side on Bobrovsky.

Bennett scored his second goal of the game with a backhand that beat Rittich under his blocker arm to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead at 12:04.

“I thought we played a pretty solid game for the most part,” Bennett said. “We had a couple of unfortunate breaks, and then it’s unfortunate they get one late. We pushed pretty hard tonight, but the games are too important to be giving up games like that.”

Horvat tied the game 3-3 at 17:14, scoring with a sharp-angled shot that went between Bobrovsky’s right skate and the post from deep in the left corner.

Schaefer put the Islanders in front 4-3 at 10:29 of the third period, scoring five-hole on Bobrovsky with a shot that first deflected off Evan Rodrigues.

He is the fourth rookie defenseman in NHL history to score 20 goals in a season. The others: Brian Leetch (23 with the New York Rangers in 1988-89), Barry Beck (22 with the Colorado Rockies in 1977-78), and Dion Phaneuf (20 with the Calgary Flames in 2005-06).

“I wouldn't be able to do it if it weren't for these guys,” Schaefer said. “They made it such an easy transition to just come into the NHL, come to a team that I didn’t know a lot about before coming here as an 18-year-old. They brought me in with welcoming arms, and it's just so fun playing with them, gaining chemistry and keeping it going through the season.”

NOTES: Schaefer (18 years, 177 days) is the youngest defenseman in NHL history, and the sixth-youngest skater, to score 20 goals in a season. He is also the third-youngest defenseman in NHL history to have a three-point game, behind Craig Wolanin (18 years, 135 days) and Doug Bodger (18 years, 151 days). ... The Islanders are the 10th team in NHL history to record three straight multigoal comeback wins. The only team to extend that run to four games is the 2005-06 Carolina Hurricanes. ... Islanders forward Jonathan Drouin did not play after he sustained a lower-body injury late in their win against the Blue Jackets on Saturday. ... Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov returned to the lineup after missing 57 games with an upper-body injury. He was minus-2 in 20:27 of ice time.