Islanders top Wild in OT, move into first-place tie in Metropolitan

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Brock Nelson scored at 1:04 of overtime, and the New York Islanders moved into a tie for first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 3-2 win against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday.

Anders Lee extended his goal streak to four games, Mathew Barzal had two assists and Thomas Greiss made 32 saves for New York (42-23-7), which is tied with the Washington Capitals for the division lead and three points ahead of the third-place Pittsburgh Penguins.
Nelson won it when he took a pass from Barzal and scored on a wrist shot from the slot.
WATCH: [Islanders vs. Wild highlights]
"There's not too many people that thought that would be the case," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said of their position. "It's a tribute to the group of young men that are playing night in and night out and buying in.
"I thought today was a good character test. We weren't getting the calls that we wanted. We were getting outplayed in some areas, but we hung in there. At the end of the day, we had some backbone in the third and then obviously in the 3-on-3 (overtime) we were able to get the game."

Jared Spurgeon and Zach Parise scored, and Alex Stalock made 17 saves for Minnesota (34-30-9), which moved within one point of the Arizona Coyotes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"The lost point hurts," Parise said. "It's that time of the year where you've got to get them. But at the same time, that just feels probably as well as we've played in a while.
"You go through the game, I don't think there's too many things that we did poorly or we need to do differently. Just they got that one in overtime. Unfortunately, the standings, there's just not that breathing room where we need to get those."
Barzal stripped Wild forward Jordan Greenway of the puck and passed cross-ice to Jordan Eberle, who scored on the Islanders' first shot of the game at 9:28 of the first period for a 1-0 lead.
Wild forward Ryan Donato thought he tied the game at 4:57 of the second period, but Trotz challenged for interference and video review determined goaltender interference occurred to keep it a 1-0 game.
"I'm never confident on any challenge, but I felt pretty good once I saw it," Trotz said. "[Donato's] jamming his stick, but he wasn't making contact with the puck. His stick was right into Greiss' leg, and the puck rolls in just because he pushed the goalie in. So I felt pretty confident, but I leave a lot of that to our video coaches. They looked at it and said, 'let's challenge it,' and we did."
But Parise tied the game with his 25th goal of the season during a power play goal at 11:11 of the second to make it 1-1. It was Parise's first goal since Feb. 21, and the first power-play goal allowed by the Islanders in eight games.
Lee continued his goal streak when he redirected a shot by Devon Toews to end New York's 0-for-25 drought on the power play to make it 2-1 at 16:12 of the second period.
"Tonight, the movement (on the power play) was great," said Barzal, who has six assists in his past six games. "Guys are shooting and guys are coming down on the net. [Lee's] the king of tipping pucks in front, and he had a great one tonight."
Spurgeon tied it 2-2 at 7:15 of the third when he one-timed Eric Staal's pass for a power-play goal.
Each team played the second game of a back to back. New York lost 2-1 at the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday; Minnesota defeated the New York Rangers, 5-2.

They said it

"A one-point road trip would have been unfortunate, so that second point was huge. Credit to Minnesota; they did a good job battling back all game and pushed the pace for the most part, I thought. It was a tough game to play in. I'm just glad we came out on the right side." -- Islanders center Mathew Barzal

"Of course, we deserved a better fate. I don't know what the shots were; I know the shot attempts were 69 to 34, or something like that. It was a ridiculous number. We played hard. We deserved better." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau

Need to know

It was Eberle's first goal in 18 games (Feb. 9). … The Islanders are 10-1-1 in the second half of back to backs this season. … New York blocked 22 shots, including 19 through the first two periods. … With a goal and an assist, Nelson set an NHL career high with 47 points (22 goals, 25 assists). … Donato had two assists and has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 13 games with the Wild. … Minnesota has scored a power-play goal in three straight games after going 0-for-19 in its previous six.

What's next

Islanders: Host the Boston Bruins on Tuesday (Nassau Coliseum; 7 p.m. ET; SNE, SNO, MSG+, NESN, NHL.TV)
Wild: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-N+, ALT, NHL.TV)