Simon Holmstrom’s 2nd goal lifts Islanders past Wild in OT
Simon Holmstrom scored in overtime to lift the New York Islanders to a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
Holmstrom finished with two goals and one assist to lead New York, which has earned at least one point in five of its past six games. Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Casey Cizikas scored the other goals for the Islanders.
Ben Jones, Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov scored for Minnesota. Quinn Hughes had three assists in the loss.
Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin turned aside 33 of 36 shots to earn the victory.
Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson allowed four goals on 27 shots.
Holmstrom provided the finishing touch on a big night with the winning goal 1:34 into overtime. He carried the puck from the left circle toward the front of the crease, turned to his backhand and beat Gustavsson.
Minnesota opened the scoring 2:51 into the first period. Jones redirected a puck from Hughes into the net for his first goal in 49 career NHL games.
New York made it 1-1 less than two minutes later when Pageau punched in a loose puck near the crease.
A power-play goal put the Wild on top 2-1 with 4:35 remaining in the first period. Boldy ripped a one-timer from the right circle.
The back-and-forth battle continued as the Islanders evened the score at 2-all in the first 90 seconds of the second period. Holmstrom ripped a wrist shot past Gustavsson's glove side.
The play marked Holmstrom's third goal in the last three games. It also gave him 100 points for his career.
Kaprizov scored to give the Wild a 3-2 lead with 11:34 to go in the second period. He skated toward the right side of the crease and buried a one-timer off a pass from Daemon Hunt.
The Islanders tied the score at 3-all in the final minute of the second period. Cizikas finished a two-on-one break by turning to his backhand and sliding a shot between Gustavsson's leg pads.