Eyes On Isles
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Islanders Mathew Barzal Wins It In OT (Highlights)

By Matt O'Leary

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 23: Mathew Barzal #13 of the New York Islanders celebartes his goal at 19:24 of the first period against the Winnipeg Jets at the Barclays Center on December 23, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 23: Mathew Barzal #13 of the New York Islanders celebartes his goal at 19:24 of the first period against the Winnipeg Jets at the Barclays Center on December 23, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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The New York Islanders beat the Sabres by a score of 3-2 on the backs of Jaroslav Halak, Josh Bailey and Mathew Barzal. It was a wild one.

The New York Islanders came back from their Christmas Break with a home game against the Eastern Conference cellar dweller the Buffalo Sabres. The Isles played well in the first but were unable to get one past Robin Lehner.

The Islanders had 14 shots on net in the period but Lehner was able to stand tall. In the second period Jason Chimera got the scoring going.

With 3:41 into the period Chimera was able to net just his second goal of the season. A mic’d up Johnny Boychuk exclaimed Chimera’s heating up but I’m a bit apprehensive to go that far just yet.

At the 9:43 mark of the period Zemgus Girgensons slipped one past Jaroslav Halak to tie the game up at one apiece. They’d head into the third period with the score 1-1.

In the third familiar face, Kyle Okposo gave Buffalo their first lead of the night. Halak left a big rebound and somehow Okposo, who was tied up with Andrew Ladd was able to get one past Halak.

It looked like the Islanders were going to go on to lose 2-1 as time was dwindling down and Jaroslav Halak was pulled for an extra skater. Josh Bailey ripped a shot at Lehner, who looked like he made a huge save.

About 30 seconds later the refs blew the play dead and they went to review it. After a quick review, the refs announced that with 1:09 to go the Islanders tied up the game

The Islanders were able to force overtime after looking completely dead to one of the league’s worst teams. In overtime, Jaroslav Halak stood tall making a huge save to keep the Isles alive.

Then Mathew Barzal, did Mathew Barzal things and put this sucker to bed

That was Barzal’s 13th goal of the year and 36th point of the season. The legend of Maty B keeps growing and we’re all just here along for the ride.

Next: Brock Nelson Is Back In Hibernation Mode

The Islanders play next on Friday evening on the road against Winnipeg. Hats off to Jaroslav Halak who had a .946 save percentage tonight, he might just be finally coming around.

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