Pulock scores first of season in OT to lift Islanders past Rangers

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Ryan Pulock scored his first goal of the season at 1:13 of overtime to give the New York Islanders a 3-2 win against the New York Rangers at Nassau Coliseum on Sunday.

Pulock, who went 41 games this season without a goal, took a cross-ice feed from Mathew Barzal and scored with a wrist shot from the right circle.
"Throughout my career, I've been able to score a little bit and to kind of go through a little slump like that, it's tough," Pulock said. "As the games went on it got tougher, but I knew I just needed to get that one. Obviously it came in a big moment, and I'm excited about that."
Kyle Palmieri scored his first goal with the Islanders (27-11-4), who salvaged a split of a two-game set and went 5-1-0 on their six-game homestand. Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves.
It was Pulock's first regular-season goal since March 7, 2020.
"He was squeezing it," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "He was trying to put the puck through the end boards he was trying so hard. I think this will just get him to relax a little bit. … It was really nice to see."
Libor Hajek and Brendan Smith scored for the Rangers (19-16-6), who have gotten at least one point in six of seven. Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves.
"I thought we did a lot of good things," Smith said. "At this time, points are good. We want two, but we're trying to get back into the hunt and get into that playoff spot, so we'll take the points."

Palmieri scored his first goal with the Islanders on the power play at 1:47 of the first period when he backhanded a rebound past Shesterkin for a 1-0 lead. It was his third game with the Islanders after being traded from the New Jersey Devils, along with Travis Zajac, on Wednesday.
"You're surrounded by great players up and down this lineup," Palmieri said. "There's guys that make an impact every night. When you come to a team like that and you're surrounded by guys like that, it's easy to kind of raise your game and try to fit in."
Jean-Gabriel Pageau made it 2-0 when he one-timed Jordan Eberle's feed from the slot at 19:52 of the first. It was Pageau's first point in eight games.
The Islanders outshot the Rangers 17-8 in the first period.
"We knew that they were going to come after we beat them 4-1 [on Friday]," Smith said. "They came out hot. I don't think we weathered the storm as well as we wanted to. We talked about it in the room, that they were going to come. I don't think we were flat, but we just didn't bring it."

Hajek made it 2-1 when his wrist shot from the left point found its way through traffic at 10:23 of the second. It was his first goal in 18 games.
Smith tied it 1:53 later with a one-timer from between the circles at 12:16 to make it 2-2.
Vitali Kravtsov got his first NHL point with an assist on Smith's goal. It was his fifth game.
"He's playing with confidence," Rangers coach David Quinn said of Kravtsov. "It's growing each game."
Ryan Lindgren nearly gave the Rangers the lead at 17:19 of the third period when his shot from the left circle hit Scott Mayfield's skate and went off the crossbar.
"I certainly liked a lot about our second and third period," Quinn said. "Disappointing we didn't get the two points, but every point's life and death right now. We've got to be better 3-on-3; [that's] something we'll probably work on here in the next practice. But I liked that we bounced back after a tough first period."
NOTES: Sorokin is 8-0-0 at home. … The Rangers have gotten at least one point in 11 of their past 12 games at Nassau Coliseum. … Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko played his 100th NHL game. … Islanders forward Oliver Wahlstrom, who did not play the previous two games, was recalled from the taxi squad and had three shots on goal in 13:32 of ice time. … The Islanders placed forward Ross Johnston (undisclosed) on injured reserve.