Rapid Recap: Islanders 5, Penguins 4

A must-win turned into a comeback win, as the New York Islanders rallied to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 on Friday night at UBS Arena.
Zach Parise scored the go-ahead goal with 2:43 left in the third period, capping a comeback win as the Islanders clawed back from a 4-2 deficit in the final minute of the second period. The win snapped the Islanders three-game winless skid.
Anders Lee (2G, 1A) and Brock Nelson each had three-point games, while Mathew Barzal and Sebastian Aho each had a pair of assists. Rickard Rakell netted a pair for the Penguins, while Sidney Crosby (1G, 1A), Pierre-Oliver Joseph (2A) and Chad Ruhwedel (2A) each had two-point games. Jason Zucker rounded out the scoring for the Penguins.
With the win, the Islanders (63 points) leapfrogged the Washington Capitals (62 points) to move into the second wild card berth in the Eastern Conference. The Isles are tied in points with the Pens, but Pittsburgh still holds four games in hand. The two teams meet again on Monday.

THE SCORING:

1st Period:
12:00 -PIT 1, NYI 0 - Pierre-Oliver Joseph puts a point shot on net. Ilya Sorokin stops it initially, but can't find the rebound, which he is hovering over. Sidney Crosby is the first to find it, hooking it out from under the Isles netminder and in. Chad Ruhwedel with the secondary assist.
13:56 - NYI 1, PIT 1 - Anders Lee redirects a Mathew Barzal pass that's initially denied by Casey DeSmith, who lays down to cover the puck, but doesn't realize it's sitting on his waist. Lee spots it and chips it off DeSmith and in.

2nd Period:
3:53 -PIT 2, NYI 1 - Rickard Rakell deflects a pass from Jake Guentzel past Ilya Sorokin to make it 2-0. Rakell's goal caps some intense Penguins pressure to start the period, as Pittsburgh records the first eight shots of the middle frame. Kris Letang with the secondary assist.
5:35 - PIT 3, NYI 1 - Jason Zucker deflects a P-O Joseph point shot past Sorokin to extend the Penguins lead. Zucker's goal marks the Pens 10th shot of the period, compared to just one for the Islanders. Like Jospeh, Ruhwedel picks up his second assist of the game.
14:25 - PIT 3, NYI 2 - Brock Nelson circles the net and banks a shot in off DeSmith for a wraparound. The goal extends Nelson's career-long point streak to 12 games. Scott Mayfield and Alex Romanov with the assists.

18:57 - PIT 4, NYI 2 - Rakell scores his second goal of the game, as his initial shot is blocked, but Crosby recovers the loose puck and sends it back to Rakell for the goal. Marcus Pettersson with the secondary assist.
19:32 - PIT 4, NYI 3 - Mathew Barzal makes a move to the middle of the ice and puts a wrister on net. Lee posts up in front and deflects the Barzal shot past DeSmith for his second goal of the game. Sebastian Aho picks up the secondary assist.

3rd Period:
5:01 - NYI 4, PIT 4 PPG - Nelson scores his second goal of the game, one-timing a feed from Dobson high past DeSmith. Lee picks up the secondary assist.

17:17 - NYI 5, PIT 4 - Zach Parise goes to the net and gets a stick on a Nelson pass, redirecting it into the net. Aho picks up the second assist.

NOTEBOOK:

Brock Nelson's 12-game point streak was the Islanders' first since John Tavares in 2012... Anders Lee's goals were his 20th and 21st of the season, marking the seventh time the Islanders captain hit the 20-goal mark... Lee's goal snapped a five-game goal drought for the captain... Zach Parise skated in his 1,200th game... Andy Andreoff made his season debut, centering a line with Matt Martin and Hudson Fasching. Andreoff played 5:47... Lee had a team-high six shots on goal... Bo Horvat played a team-high 24:18 and took a team-high 28 face-offs, winning 14... Matt Martin had a team-high six hits...

GOALTENDING BATTLE:

Ilya Sorokin stopped 40 of 44 in the win.
Casey DeSmith stopped 23 of 28 in the loss.

SPECIAL TEAMS BATTLE:

The Islanders power play went 1-for-2, while the penalty kill went 1-for-1

IMAGE OF THE GAME:

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders are back in action on Saturday night as they visit the Boston Bruins. Puck drop is at 5 p.m.