ELMONT, N.Y. — Two sluggish periods were certainly cause for consternation. But they should not generate too much overreaction.
Not when the Islanders can continue to dominate in the third period.
A game headed toward being categorized as a dud turned with two third-period goals within 59 seconds and the Islanders finished their furious push on Noah Dobson’s power-play winner in overtime.
The Islanders won, 4-3, after being outshot 30-12 over the first two periods. Until the third period, they rarely created traffic in front of Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom (30 saves).
Per Natural Stat Trick, the Flames had 14 high-danger chances to the Islanders’ nine, including just two over the first two periods.
But the Islanders have now outscored their opponents 22-11 in the third period this season.
Dobson scored the winner with 58.0 seconds left in the five-minute overtime after defenseman Rasmus Andersson was whistled for interference after pushing defenseman Adam Pelech into the Islanders’ net.
Anders Lee got to the crease to bang in the rebound of Brock Nelson’s shot off the rush to bring the Islanders within 3-2 at 10:08 of the third period. Kyle Palmieri then blasted one past Markstrom from the left circle to tie the game at 11:07.
Meanwhile, Ilya Sorokin, who made a season-high 43 saves, was beaten on a deflection through traffic and two open shots from the slot.
The Islanders (8-5-0), who went past regulation for the first time this season, played a forward short after Cal Clutterbuck exited after logging just 3:32 on six shifts in the first period. The gritty right wing missed Friday’s practice in Detroit for maintenance but played 13:36 with a team-high six hits in Saturday’s 3-0 loss to the Red Wings.
Mikael Backlund scored twice for the Flames (5-4-2), who extended their skid to 0-3-2 as they played just their second road game.
Sorokin extended his winning streak to five games, dating to a 3-0 win over the Rangers on Oct. 26. He entered Monday having stopped 128 of 134 shots for a .955 save percentage during that span.
He couldn’t be faulted for the Flames taking a 3-1 lead given the early lopsided shot totals and the good looks the they got.
Slow starts have been a disturbing trend for the Islanders dating to falling into a three-goal deficit before rallying for a 5-4 win over the visiting Stanley Cup champion Avalanche on Oct. 29. That was true even as they built a five-game winning streak that was snapped in Saturday’s sluggish effort against the Red Wings to conclude a three-game Midwestern swing.
The Flames took the game’s first nine shots, opening the scoring on the ninth shot as Backlund got loose in the slot at 11:16 of the first period. But less than a minute earlier, though, Anthony Beauvillier missed a chance to open the scoring for the Islanders when he missed the net on a wide-open one-timer from the slot.
Mathew Barzal, patiently skating into the right circle, found defenseman Sebastian Aho cutting to the far post as the Islanders tied the game just 70 seconds later.
But nothing improved in terms of the Islanders’ lack of puck possession or struggles with their defensive structure around the crease. Elias Lindholm deflected defenseman Noah Hanifin’s shot from the left point to give the Flames a 2-1 edge at 16:21 of the first period and they held an 18-4 shot advantage after 20 minutes.
The Islanders had fits and spurts of applying sustained pressure in the second period but Backlund’s second goal, as he beat Sorokin over the blocker and under the crossbar from the slot, made it 3-1 at 14:10.
