Islanders rally past Panthers with 4 goals in 3rd

ELMONT, N.Y. -- The New York Islanders scored four goals in the third period to rally for a 4-2 win against the Florida Panthers at UBS Arena on Sunday.

Marc Gatcomb, Maxim Tsyplakov, Noah Dobson and Simon Holmstrom scored for the Islanders (30-28-8), who ended a three-game losing streak (0-2-1). Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves.

The Islanders are four points behind the New York Rangers, who have played two more games, for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

“We knew what was at stake,” Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “We knew the opportunity [we had] tonight to keep ourselves relevant, and I thought we played a great hockey game. We just didn’t score until the third, but we stuck with it through and through. All four lines, I thought, had a really strong game. Ilya was great. We needed a comeback win. When you’re playing from behind, every once in a while you got to pull one out, and we did a great job doing that.”

Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers (41-24-3), who were coming off a 3-1 loss at the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. Vitek Vanecek made 30 saves.

Florida is 1-3-0 on a season-long six-game road trip.

“I think there is a certain amount of humbling that you want to have happen before you go into the playoffs,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We still got some work to do to get there. ... Everybody is fighting for their lives right now. It’s a grind to the finish, so we want to make sure we feel confident in what we’re doing.”

Gatcomb cut the Islanders’ deficit to 2-1 at 6:29 of the third period. His initial chance off a rebound was stopped by Vanecek's left pad, but he got the puck right back and scored on a wraparound at the left post.

“Honestly, it was just instinct. It all happened quick in front of the net,” said Gatcomb, who ended an 11-game goal drought. “It’s good to finally get one in the back of the net.”

Tsyplakov tied the game 2-2 at 12:16, beating Vanecek five-hole on a breakaway.

Dobson scored just 17 seconds later to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead. He stepped in front of a pass from Uvis Balinskis in the neutral zone, skated down the left wing, and cut inside on Seth Jones before lifting a shot over Vanecek's glove.

Sorokin preserved the lead with 36 seconds remaining by sprawling out to deny a rebound opportunity from Reinhart with his right pad.

Holmstrom then scored into the empty net with seven seconds left for the 4-2 final.

“It was nice to see that comeback,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “I thought we played really well for 40 minutes and we were down 2-0. Seeing our guys be resilient and find a way to get some goals made me really proud of them, because they work hard. It’s fun to watch. ... That’s exactly who we are, that’s who we have been for a while now. I’m very proud of this group, especially tonight.”

Reinhart gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 1:00 of the second period. Barkov got the rebound of Gustav Forsling’s point shot in front and sent a short backhand pass to Reinhart, who scored past Sorokin's right pad from near the left post.

Barkov extended the lead to 2-0 at 4:48 of the second. Reinhart’s wrist shot from the right circle hit Barkov in the midsection and fluttered over Sorokin with one second remaining on a power play.

“We have to be better, especially in third periods, especially when we have the lead,” Barkov said. “We have to play better. So, that’s on us. ... I think we need to just stick to our game plan. I think we were just trying to defend the whole period. We need to be able to play our own game, like a whole 60 minutes, not just 40 minutes. We need to stay on the puck, play with the puck, and be confident enough to play with the puck.”

NOTES: Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov sustained an upper-body injury at 17:26 of the first period after falling awkwardly in the neutral zone. He was assessed a holding penalty against Anthony Duclair on the play. “No [update]. We’ll get him looked at tomorrow, but he wasn’t feeling like he could finish the game,” Maurice said. “So, we’ll see how he is tomorrow.” ... Islanders defenseman Mike Reilly had an assist and was plus-1 in 14:23 of ice time. He had been out of the lineup since Nov. 1, when he sustained a concussion against the Buffalo Sabres. Doctors then discovered a heart defect, which led to a procedure on Nov. 19.