Predators tie it late, defeat Islanders in OT

NEW YORK -- Roman Josi scored with 1:18 remaining in overtime, and the Nashville Predators rallied for a 5-4 win against the New York Islanders at Barclays Center on Monday.

Ryan Johansen tied the game for Nashville (32-12-7) with 42.2 seconds left in the third period, and Pekka Rinne made 24 saves to win his eighth straight start.
With Rinne pulled for an extra skater, Johansen tied it when he gathered P.K. Subban's rebound at the left face-off circle and shot it over Halak's blocker to make it 4-4.
WATCH: [All Predators vs. Islanders highlights]
Josi won it in overtime when he one-timed a cross-ice pass from Nick Bonino shortly after Rinne made a sprawling save against Mathew Barzal.
"You've just got to believe," Johansen said. "Whenever you're playing a good team, you know they're never out of the game, and that's how we feel our opponents look at us and that's how we look at each other in this room. We keep sticking to our game plan.
"It's a game of mistakes, and there are a lot of good players in this league that will make it challenging every night, but with our group and the way we stick to our game plan and just keep coming after teams, there is a big belief in here that we can always get the job done."
Jaroslav Halak made 42 saves for New York (26-22-6), which moved into the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Islanders allowed 37 shots on goal through the first two periods before tightening up defensively in the third, giving up only six.
"We didn't deserve it from our first two (periods)," Islanders coach Doug Weight said. "We had the lead, but we're turning pucks over. They have to look at themselves. Thirty-seven shots after two periods… how many of them were from the blue line that hit (Halak) right in the stomach? To me, physically, that means you're not in the shot lane. We don't get those through; they block them.
"We're talking a big game about being aggressive and block shots, but we're not doing it, and that's kind of what our message was. We want to sprint out at those D and not give them time. We were just on our heels and not in shot lanes and the D were soft. They had 10, 12 shot tips. They had zero in the third, and we were aggressive and mad. It was our best period in a long time."
Nick Leddy gave the Islanders a 4-2 lead with a slap shot from the left point at 3:39 of the second period. It was Leddy's second goal in as many games after he went 30 without one.

Calle Jarnkrok poked Mattias Ekholm's rebound past Halak at 16:25 of the second period to make it 4-3.

"I think the goal at the end of the second period that put us within one was big," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "That makes the third period more of a realistic chance. Going out there to win a period by one is different than trying to win it by two to tie it up."
John Tavares gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 4:55 of the first period when he directed Josh Bailey's feed from the right face-off circle.

Kevin Fiala scored two goals in 1:28 to give Nashville a 2-1 lead. He tied it at 11:59 of the first period when he one-timed a pass from Kyle Turris, then stuffed a rebound past Halak at 13:27.
Ryan Pulock tied it at 14:05 with a slap shot from outside the right face-off circle. It was his fifth of the season.
Casey Cizikas gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead at 17:03 shortly after leaving the penalty box, when he drove past Subban and poked it past Rinne for his first goal in 16 games.
"(The third period) was probably one of our better periods defensive-wise," Pulock said. "We never gave up much, and then, obviously, when they get the extra guy out there, there's that extra option."

Goal of the game

Josi's goal at 3:42 of overtime.

Save of the game

Rinne's save against Barzal at 1:53 of overtime.

Highlight of the game

Johansen's goal at 19:17 of the third period.

They said it

"We left a couple of point-blank chances open in front of the net, so defensively, there are some things we could have been better at. But at the end of the day, when that game is hanging on at 4-3 and he made two, three, four or maybe five big saves, that gave us an opportunity to hang in there and get to that two-minute point where we could pull the goalie and ultimately score the goal." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette on goalie Pekka Rinne
"I thought we played a really good third period. We did everything we wanted to; we got pucks in deep, we didn't turn anything over, we played a solid third. It's just a tough ending." -- Islanders forward Casey Cizikas

Need to know

Fiala has four goals in the past two games... Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield did not play after the first period because of a lower-body injury… The Islanders have allowed at least 30 shots on goal in 20 consecutive games.

What's next

Predators: At the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; SN, TVA Sports, FS-TN, NHL.TV)
Islanders: At the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, MSG-B, MSG+ 2, NHL.TV)