NEW YORK — The Islanders are earning points in the third period. For the second time in two nights, they overcame a two-goal deficit heading into the third period for a stunning comeback victory.
Anders Lee’s goal at the crease at 14:30 of the third was the winner as the Islanders beat the rival Rangers, 4-3, on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. It came 24 hours after they beat the Flames, 4-3 in overtime.
There was also more in-game line juggling from coach Lane Lambert as he tried to compensate for the loss of injured Cal Clutterbuck and settle on linemates for Mathew Barzal in the midst of his productive start to the season.
Defenseman Adam Pelech scored 14 seconds into the third period to bring the Islanders within 3-2. Kyle Palmieri, who opened the scoring on the power play in the first period, notched his 400th career point with the primary assist. Brock Nelson’s power-play one-timer from the right circle tied it at 12:46.
The Islanders (9-5-0) have now outscored opponents 25-11 in the third period.
Right wing Oliver Wahlstrom, the 11th overall pick in the 2018 draft who the franchise believes has the potential to turn into the top-line complement Barzal craves, was in the midst of many of Lambert’s changes.
First, Lambert dropped him from Barzal’s right wing to Casey Cizikas’ fourth line with Clutterbuck out with an unspecified injury. Clutterbuck exited after the first period on Monday night. Nikita Soshnikov, playing his third game of the season, curiously started on Barzal’s line with Lee.
Wahlstrom had no shots on goal against the Flames and a rocky first two periods against the Rangers. In one first-period sequence, Wahlstrom turned the puck over in the offensive zone, hung his head as he skated back on defense then, after the whistle, slammed the bench door as he exited the ice.
Shortly after that, Lambert was seen gently chatting with Wahlstrom on the bench, seemingly trying to calm him while patting his shoulders.
In the second period, he took an offensive-zone interference penalty on Mika Zibanejad as he leveled the Rangers’ top-line center, Yet, by the end of the second period, he was back on Barzal’s wing with Soshnikov skating in Clutterbuck’s spot.
“I’d have to say that he’s done the little things,” Lambert said of Wahlstrom. “He’s done the details. I’d like to see him get more shots on goal.”
Lambert briefly tried reuniting Barzal and Lee with Nelson — a dominant third-period combination in the third-period comeback against the Flames — before giving Wahlstrom another chance on that trio.
Barzal still does not have a goal in 14 games, a weird juxtaposition considering the elite playmaker is creating and skating as well as he has in his career.
He has a team-high 15 assists after getting the secondary helper on Nelson’s winner. Per team statistician Eric Hornick, no Islander has had more than 14 assists in the first 13 games since Brent Sutter and Mike Bossy both did so in 1984-85.
“I’m just trying to play my game,” said Barzal, who agreed to an eight-year, $73.2 million extension prior to this season. “Obviously, I’d love to score. At the end of the day, I like to be a playmaker. I’m just trying to make an impact in every way I can.”
Barzal had just one shot against the Rangers but entered the game third on the team with 37 after five against the Flames.
“We just want him to keep playing the way he is,” Lambert said. “As with anybody else, the goals will end up coming. He’s playing well right now.”
