WINNIPEG, Manitoba _ As comebacks go, this might have been the Islanders' most important of the season.
They allowed a goal off the opening faceoff. They twice trailed by two goals, including in the third period.
Yet, two goals within 33 seconds late in the third period _ and three goals overall in the final period _ propelled the Islanders to a 5-4 win over the Jets on Thursday night at Bell MTS Place as they remained within three points of the Capitals, who won 3-2 at Carolina, in the Metropolitan Division. They also jumped back over the Penguins into second place, and possible home-ice advantage, as they seek to clinch their first playoff berth since 2016.
Casey Cizikas tied the score at 4 at 18:14 of the third period as he picked up a puck in the crease and Jordan Eberle, with his second goal of the third period, stuffed home the winner at 18:47.
Robin Lehner made 32 saves in an at-times brilliant performance for the Islanders (46-26-7). Connor Hellebuyck made 39 saves for the Central Division-leading Jets.
The Islanders magic number for clinching a playoff berth is now two, meaning any combination of points gained by them or lost by the ninth-place Canadiens. So, the Islanders can clinch with a win against the Sabres on Saturday night at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum.
Coach Barry Trotz was forced to alter his third line again with Tanner Fritz, who had played the previous four games with Valtteri Filppula (left shoulder) out for four weeks, was out with an unspecified injury. Trotz inserted right wing Tom Kuhnhackl, who played in his 200th NHL game, and shifted Leo Komarov to the middle.
The Jets took a 3-1 lead at 3:46 of the second period. Cal Clutterbuck and then Cizikas broke their sticks on the sequence and Brandon Tanev's blue-line shot snuck through traffic as Lehner angrily slammed the butt of his stick against the left post.
Yet the Islanders controlled play for the rest of the period, coming within 3-2 at 6:06 on a five-on-three power play as captain Anders Lee, with his 28th goal, tipped Ryan Pulock's blast from the left point.
But the Islanders could not take advantage of what was essentially a four-minute power play bridging the end of the second period and the start of the third. Mathieu Perreault was called for tripping Adam Pelech at 17:28 of the second period. The Islanders managed just one shot but went right back on the man advantage as Perreault went right back into the box after he hooked Cizikas coming through the neutral zone with 28.4 seconds to go as he stepped onto the ice.
That power play also yielded just one shot. The Islanders went 1 for 4 on the power play and are 2 for 41 over 18 games.
Mark Scheifele, seconds after hitting the post, tipped in Jacob Trouba's shot for a power-play goal as the Jets went ahead 4-2 at 6:46 of the third period. But Eberle, at the crease, knocked in the rebound of Pulock 's shot from the right to pull the Islanders within 4-3 at 7:49.
Adam Lowry scored the first of his two first-period goals just 13 seconds in, getting behind Cizikas to the far post and knocking in Brandon Tanev's wraparound feed from the right post.
Lowry also deflected Trouba's shot from the right point to make it 2-0 at 6:11. But Lehner kept the Islanders from a three-goal deficit by reaching out with his left arm to deny Kyle Connor's power-play chance from the doorstep at 12:31 after stopping Patrik Laine and Scheifele in succession on similarly close-range chances.
Mathew Barzal brought the Islanders within 2-1 at 10:19 of the first period as he snapped a 19-game goal drought after Eberle tracked down a loose puck and fed him through the slot.
