NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Horvat scored the only goal in a shootout and the New York Islanders rallied past the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Tuesday night.
New York goalie Ilya Sorokin denied Rickard Rakell, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang in the tiebreaker and finished with 32 saves. Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who trailed 3-1 midway through the third period.
Simon Holmstrom and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored in the third for New York. Horvat had two assists.
Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist to lead Pittsburgh. Crosby got his 598th career goal, and Michael Bunting also scored. Rakell added two assists.
Alex Nedeljkovich stopped 23 shots for the Penguins, who have lost seven of nine. They won their previous two following a six-game skid.
Holmstrom and Pageau scored 3:07 apart to erase a two-goal deficit. Holmstrom deftly roofed a backhand from in close for his first career power-play goal and Pageau buried a one-timer from the slot to even the score at 3.
Malkin scored in the second period on a power play to give the Penguins a 2-1 edge 1:16 after Palmieri tied it.
Crosby opened the scoring with a backhand from the slot 5:27 into the second.
Takeaways
Penguins: Crosby has 42 goals and 93 assists in 87 games against the Islanders. Those 135 points are the most for any active player against one team.
Islanders: Isaiah George, a 20-year-old defenseman, made his NHL debut. New York is without defensemen Adam Pelech and Mike Reilly. Samuel Bolduc was assigned to the minors following a brutal turnover Sunday against the New York Rangers.
Key moment
Late in the second period, Holmstrom missed a chance to tie it at 2 after he intercepted an errant pass from Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves. Holmstrom attempted a backhand-forehand maneuver but the puck rolled off his stick.
Key stat
New York’s penalty kill has allowed seven goals on 13 power-play opportunities in six home games.
Up next
Pittsburgh visits the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.
New York plays at Ottawa on Thursday.
