Islanders recover for OT win against Tavares, Maple Leafs

Bo Horvat scored 46 seconds into overtime for the New York Islanders, who recovered for a 4-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at UBS Arena on Monday.

Horvat won it from the left circle off a pass from Mathew Barzal on a 2-on-1.

“Barzal and I looked at each other and just said, ‘Chance to be the heroes, I guess, tonight,’ and he made a heck of a play to get it over to me, and I had to put it in the net from there,” Horvat said.

Barzal’s goal came after Morgan Rielly tied it 3-3 for Toronto with seven seconds remaining in regulation. John Tavares, who played his first nine seasons with New York (2009-18) after being the No. 1 pick in the 2009 NHL Draft, earned his 1,000th point on the play with the primary assist.

“It’s been a great ride so far, a great journey,” Tavares said. “Obviously, you want to celebrate in a win, but I’m very proud of it and, in certain ways, just kind of happy it’s happened.

“The uniqueness of doing it where I played my first nine years of my career and a big part of who I am and the way this place impacted me, it was tremendous. So, really unique and cool to do it here.”

Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri each had a goal and an assist for the Islanders (13-7-7), who have won three in a row and are 5-0-1 in their past six games. Ilya Sorokin made 37 saves.

“We did face some adversity,” New York coach Lane Lambert said. “I thought, for the most part in the third period, we played the game we wanted to play. They pulled the goalie. They’ve got a lot of skill, and they ended up tying the hockey game, but we found a way, and that’s what good teams do.”

Tavares had a goal and an assist, and William Nylander had two assists for the Maple Leafs (14-6-5), who extended their point streak to six games (4-0-2). Ilya Samsonov made 25 saves.

Auston Matthews gave Toronto a 1-0 lead at 5:50 of the first period with a power-play goal. He roofed a shot over Sorokin’s glove from the low slot off a bumper pass from Mitchell Marner.

Nelson tied it 1-1 at 9:20. Palmieri picked the puck up along the left boards and sent a backhand pass to Nelson, who had skated to the top of the circle and beat Samsonov glove side with a one-timer.

Cizikas gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 18:33. Cal Clutterbuck got to a loose puck behind the net and sent a pass out front, where it deflected off the skate of Marner to Cizikas, who lifted in a backhand over a sprawling Samsonov.

“It’s hard work,” Cizikas said. “I mean, it starts from our own end with (defenseman Mike) Reilly, who has a guy on his back and he makes an unbelievable pass up the middle to get out of the zone, and the rest is history from there.”

Palmieri extended the lead to 3-1 at 1:10 of the second period, scoring blocker side from the high slot off a pass from Nelson from below the goal line.

“It’s good. Obviously, we want to keep giving ourselves chances, create offense, and be sound in our zone,” Palmieri said on his chemistry with Nelson. “I think Pierre (Engvall) has done a great job this year. I mean, Pierre and Nelson are both great players. … For me, it’s really just to try and complement them and find some ice to get into it.”

Tavares cut it to 3-2 at 7:43 of the second when he redirected Conor Timmins’ pass between his legs with his backhand in front.

“It would have been nice to get the two points and have a little happier locker room, but really nice to get [my 1,000th NHL point] and to have the support of my teammates,” Tavares said.