Islanders defeat Flames in shootout to end 7-game skid

CALGARY -- The New York Islanders ended a seven-game losing streak with a 5-4 shootout win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday.

Oliver Wahlstrom scored the winner when he skated in for a shot over Jacob Markstrom's glove in the fourth round of the shootout, after Ilya Sorokin made a blocker save on Connor Zary.

"It was unbelievable," Wahlstrom said. "It feels really good. All the guys are happy. Go home with two points. We've been battling. We've been in all our games, so it feels good to get two points."

Brock Nelson had a goal and an assist, and Kyle Palmieri and Mathew Barzal scored for the Islanders (6-6-5), who were 0-4-3 during the skid. Sorokin made 35 saves.

"This group's been challenged with a lot of different things," New York captain Anders Lee said. "We're comfortable in challenging situations, facing adversity, dropping as many as we have. We've just got to fight through it, you've got to grind through it. It's a tough league. Nothing's given. That was no different tonight from our effort and the way we played. Didn't matter how, we just needed those two [points]."

Blake Coleman and MacKenzie Weegar scored, and Markstrom made 29 saves for the Flames (6-8-3), who are 4-1-2 following a six-game skid.

"When you get results, everybody feels better about themselves for sure and we've been able to string some points together here over the last little while," Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. "We have to find a way to continue it but find a way to get that extra one like we needed tonight."

Martin Pospisil put the Flames up 1-0 at 12:16 of the first period. He pulled a bank pass off the boards from Nazem Kadri and drove wide by Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov before waiting out Sorokin and lifting a shot into the top of the net.

Hudson Fasching tied it 1-1 at 16:52 when his wrist shot from just inside the right circle beat Markstrom's blocker.

Palmieri put New York up 2-1 at 4:07 of the second period when he banged in a rebound on Bo Horvat's initial shot on the power play. Palmieri's goal came 15 seconds into a Kadri minor for hooking.

"The power play has been moving the puck well," Palmieri said. "We're getting a lot of looks. Bo put it to the net and the rebound just happened to be on my stick. Right place at the right time."

Barzal extended the lead to 3-1 at 8:07 when he shot under Markstrom's right arm from the slot with the teams skating 4-on-4.

Calgary trimmed it to 3-2 at 17:03 when Coleman redirected a pass from Nick DeSimone for a tap-in.

"Individuals are starting to find their games and find that confidence within themselves," said Coleman, who leads the Flames with five goals. "As a group, we're starting to look a lot better. There's a lot more movement in the O-zone. There's a lot more creativity when it was a little bit stale to start the year. I think offensively we were great again, created a lot against a pretty stingy team."

Weegar tied it 3-3 at 3:12 of the third period when his one-timer from the point through traffic snuck through Sorokin's five-hole, but Nelson backhanded a rebound by Markstrom 19 seconds later to put the Islanders ahead 4-3 at 3:32.

Yegor Sharangovich tied it 4-4 at 13:43 when he tipped Noah Hanifin's point shot by Sorokin. His goal came after Markstrom stopped Wahlstrom on the doorstep at 6:49.

"I think it's easy when you're on a seven-game losing streak to hang your head and say 'here we go again,'" Palmieri said. "We're confident in this room, confident in each other that we can get this done and we know we can win close games. I think we can take this and get it moving in the right direction."

NOTES: Barzal has six points (two goals, four assists) in a four-game point streak, and seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past six games. ... Horvat has five points (one goal, four assists) in a five-game point streak. ... Calgary is 1-7-2 when trailing after two periods. ... Zary had two assists and has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his first eight NHL games. Since Zary made his debut Nov. 1, the only rookie with as many points is Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard (five goals, three assists in six games). ... Kadri, Zary's linemate, has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his past nine games.