In Elmont, the Islanders’ Anders lee hit for a double in the third period to tie the Los Angeles Kings, 2-2, on Saturday night and force an extra session.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau completed the rally for New York when he scored 13 seconds into extra time for a 3-2 win to the Isles.
“We just played a really solid hockey game, and they played a good game, too,” Lee said. “It’s a good hockey club, and I think we proved when we stick with it and just continue to push, our resiliency can show itself, and it did tonight.”
The loss snapped the Kings’ 11-game road winning streak to start the season.
“To be honest, I was thinking of shooting like I did all year, and it hasn’t been working,” Pageau said. “So I said I’ll try something else. I saw Casey [Cizikas] do that a few times, and it’s been working, so I said I’ll give it a shot, and it worked out.”
Ilya Sorokin made 34 saves in the win.
“Very inspirational. He’s been playing really well,” New York coach Lane Lambert said of Lee. “He’s been leading, he’s been forechecking. He’s battling, he’s getting to the net front, and he got rewarded tonight.”
The Islanders moved to 12-7-7.
LA took a 2-0 lead in the middle frame on a pair of strikes.
Adrian Kempe scored off the power play at 5:40 of the middle frame for a 1-0 lad for the Kings.
Vladislav Gavrikov extended the advantage to 2-0 at 9:08.
“When we got a lead like 2-0, we just simply can’t be making mistakes like we did, and we talked about net play,” LA’s Drew Doughty said. “Two of the goals were net play, and we just got to do a better job.”
The Kings dropped to 16-4-4.
“We played playoff-type hockey in the third. Well, we only did for half a period,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “It’s amazing how one play can change the momentum of a game.”
Less scored at 8:42 and 15:49 of the third period to tie the game.
“Early in the third, we just couldn’t really find anything, and then it just clicked,” the Islanders’ Mathew Barzal said. “We get one, and then sometimes it just takes that break. … One break and it completely changed the momentum. So that’s a huge win for this locker room.”
Cam Talbot made 27 saves in the loss.
“When we got a lead like 2-0, we just simply can’t be making mistakes like we did, and we talked about net play,” Doughty said. “Two of the goals were net play, and we just got to do a better job.”
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