Isles recover to get OT win over Pens Pelech scores winner in OT

In Pittsburgh, the visiting New York Islanders surrendered two goals to the Penguins in a span of 58 seconds in the third period to cough up a two-goal necessitating an extra session on Tuesday night.

Adam Pelech rescued the Islanders with the winner at 57 seconds of the extra session for a 5-4 win, it was his first goal of the campaign.

“It’s a huge win,” Pelech said. “I think, looking at the standings this time of year (four points out of a Stanley Cup Playoffs spot in the Eastern Conference), we kind of have to put together a streak here. It’s the only way we’re going to make up ground.

Pittsburgh’s Valtteri Puustinen scored at 12:06 of the third to trim the Pens deficit to 4-3.

Just 58 seconds later, Drew O’Connor forced the extra session with a deflection of=f an Islanders’ skate for the 4-4 tie.

“It was a good pushback,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “Not the ideal situation to be in, but we battled hard and got it even. … Take the point and move on. We need points, so we got one. We’ve got to continue to grab them.”

Ilya Sorokin made 37 saves in the win.

The Islanders moved to 23-18-14.

The Pans’ Marcus Pettersson scored at 12:48 of the opening stanza to give them a 1-0 lead, the goal came off a shot from the right side.

The Isles’ Brock Nelson hit for the tying goal at 3:40 of the middle frame, after splitting the Pens defense and scoring off a backhand.

Matthew Barzal pulled the Islanders into the lead, 2-1, at 6:37 of the second off a wrist shot.

“We really have to find a way, because we’re in every single hockey game and we really do have the lead [a lot],” Barzal said. “Have to find a way to just get over the hump. It’s nice to get the win tonight, but it shouldn’t have gotten there (overtime). Have to find a way to get better.”

The Penguins dropped to 24-21-8 off their fifth loss in six matches.

“It’s a tough one,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “It’s disappointing because I think our team competed really hard. … There was a lot to like about our team game tonight. I thought it was an inspired effort.”

New York pushed the lead to 3-1 when Simon Holmstrom‘s wraparound came at 13:15.

The Pens trimmed the deficit to 3-2 on a strike by Lars Eller at 16:35 of the second. .

“There’s no quit. We don’t give up,” Eller said. “We’ve got to keep the faith and the belief. It’s tough right now when you only get one point. But we showed that we have no quit in us, regardless of how things went during the game. That’s going to be important going forward, the mentality of never stop fighting.”

The Isles replied with a goal from Mike Reilly midway through the third period for a 4-2 advantage, setting up the Pens’ rally for the tie.

Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves in the loss.