Nelson scores in OT to lift Islanders to 4-3 win over Flyers

PHILADELPHIA — Brock Nelson scored 1:25 into overtime and the New York Islanders preserved their playoff hopes with a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.

Anders Lee, Bo Horvat and Matt Martin also scored for the Islanders, who moved within four points of Philadelphia for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. New York has two more games remaining on their schedule than the Flyers.

“We were approaching this game like it was a do-or-die scenario for us just given that this is a team specifically that we’re chasing,” Nelson said. “We need the points.”

Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots to help the Islanders get their third win in 11 games.

Nelson scored after a turnover by Morgan Frost in his own zone for his 30th goal of the season, tyring him with Horvat for the team lead.

Frost, Noah Cates and Travis Sanheim had goals for the Flyers, who have lost three straight and eight of their last 10.

Frost forced overtime when he scored on a rebound with 10 seconds remaining in regulation to secure an all-important point for the Flyers, who are clinging to the final playoff spot.

“No one was happy when that one went in because we knew exactly what it meant,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “But we just kept the focus and we scored a big one. … We might not be happy to give them one point today, but we are probably going to be happy maybe down the road to have two points.”

Sam Ersson started and gave up two goals on six shots in the first period. He was replaced by Ivan Fedotov, who was added to the Flyers roster last week after having his KHL contract terminated after his SKA St. Petersburg team was eliminated from the playoffs in the top Russian hockey league. The 6-foot-7 Fedotov made his NHL debut by coming off the bench to start the second period and had 15 of his 24 saves in the period.

“There are certain people that don’t have a clue how to play or don’t have it in them to play in these types of situations,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “This is why I’m glad we’re playing them. We have to figure things out as far as what we’re going to become as a team here. That was embarrassing in the second period for the Philadelphia Flyers uniform. Embarrassing.”

He was challenged right away and made a glove save on a breakaway against Matthew Barzal early in the second period, prompting a standing ovation from the Philadelphia fans.

Fedotov became the fifth goalie to play for the Flyers this season, a situation that was made unstable after Carter Hart took a leave of absence from the team days prior to being charged by London, Ontario, police with sexual assault dating back to an alleged incident in 2019 involving members of the 2018 Hockey Canada World Junior Championship team.

“I’m totally impressed (with Fedotov),” Tortorella said. “I put him in a hell of a spot – and he was the only player who played in the second period.”

Tortorella did give the team high marks for how they played in the third period, one in which they outshot the Islanders 19-3.

PENGUINS 5, RANGERS 2

NEW YORK — Sidney Crosby had two goals and an assist and Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves as the Pittsburgh beat New York, snapping the Rangers’ five-game winning streak.

Bryan Rust also scored twice and Emil Bemstrom added a goal for Pittsburgh, which ended a four-game losing streak in New York and improved to 14-9-3 in its last 26 games against Rangers. The Penguins lost both previous games this season at home against the first-place Rangers and were making their lone appearance at Madison Square Garden.

Kaapo Kakko and Jack Roslovic scored goals for the Rangers, and Igor Shesterkin finished with 16 saves.

RED WINGS 4, LIGHTNING 2

TAMPA, Fla. — David Perron scored the go-ahead goal with 2:40 remaining and Detroit ended a four-game winless streak with a 4-2 win against the Tampa Bay.

Perron shoveled a rebound past Andrei Vasilevskiy to break a 2-2 tie as the Red Wings won the finale of a five-game road trip. Patrick Kane, Robby Fabbri and Lucas Raymond also scored and Alex Lyon made 34 saves to end a personal 0-8-2 streak and help the Red Wings move within one point of the Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

Anthony Cirelli and Steven Stamkos scored for the Lightning, who had been 8-0-1 in their previous nine. Vasilevskiy finished with 28 saves.

MAPLE LEAFS 6, PANTHERS 4

TORONTO — Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 61st and 62nd goals of the season to go along with an assist as Toronto built a four-goal lead before hanging on late to down Florida.

Nicholas Robertson and Matthew Knies also had a goal and an assist each for Toronto, while Tyler Bertuzzi and David Kampf provided the rest of the offense.

Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves for the Leafs, who were without five regulars — including star winger Mitch Marner (high ankle sprain) for an 11th straight game.

Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and two assists for Florida. Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett and Brandon Montour also scored. Sergei Bobrovsky allowed five goals on 16 shots through two periods before getting the hook. Anthony Stolarz made six saves in relief.

BLUE JACKETS 4, AVALANCHE 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Alex Nylander scored twice and the Columbus Blue Jackets used a three-goal second period to beat the Colorado Avalanche for their second straight home win.

Kirill Marchenko had a goal and an assist, Cole Sillinger also scored and Eric Gudbranson had two assists for last-place Columbus, which won consecutive games for just the fourth time this season. Daniil Tarasov stopped 46 shots in his first game against the Avalanche.

Chris Wagner scored and Justus Annunen had 21 saves for the Avalanche, who remain tied at 100 points with the Vancouver Canucks, three points behind the Dallas Stars for the Western Conference lead.

Marchenko broke a scoreless tie at 9:35 of the second period, sliding the puck between Annunen’s pads on the rush for his second goal in two games and his 20th of the season. Johnny Gaudreau’s secondary assist was his team-leading 56th point and 45 assist.

BLUES 3, OILERS 2

ST. LOUIS — Brandon Saad scored 2:09 into overtime, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Edmonton Oilers.

Brayden Schenn scored twice and Jordan Binnington stopped 35 shots to help St. Louis improve to 8-2-1 in its last 11 games. The Blues are three points behind Los Angeles for the second wild card in the Western Conference.

Mattias Ekholm and Leon Draisaitl scored, and Stuart Skinner made 26 saves for Edmonton, which had won three straight.

Saad scored his 25th goal of the season for the win in the extra period.

Draisaitl got his 39th on a pass from Connor McDavid with 5:25 remaining in the third period to tie the score 2-2. Both Drasaitl and McDavid extended their points streaks to eight games.

Schenn one-timed a feed from Kasperi Kapanen for his second of the game and 17th of the season 1:44 into the third period to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead.

Ekholm scored his ninth goal of the season on a slap shot from just inside the blue line 7:05 into the first period to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead.

JETS 4, KINGS 3

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Cole Perfetti scored twice and Kyle Connor contributed a trio of assists as the Winnipeg Jets snapped a six-game losing skid with a victory over the Los Angeles Kings.

The Jets went on the game’s first power play midway through the third period with the score tied 3-3. Perfetti fired a low shot past Kings goalie Cam Talbot two seconds after the man advantage expired.

Josh Morrissey had a goal and assist and Sean Monahan also scored for the Jets. Perfetti registered a helper on Morrissey’s second-period tally. Laurent Brossoit made 25 saves for Winnipeg.

Viktor Arvidsson, Kevin Fiala and Anze Kopitar scored for the Kings. Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov had two assists and Talbot stopped 28 shots for Los Angeles.

Both sides have struggled recently, with Winnipeg going 0-5-1 heading into the match. The Kings have now lost three straight.

Monday’s game was tied 1-1 after the first period and 3-3 heading into the third.