Islanders: Top Five Overtime Goals from the 19-20 Season

The New York Islanders have won ten games in Overtime in the 2019-2020 season. Here are the top five overtime game winners from the past season.

The New York Islanders have had their fair share of moments this season. From the highs of their record setting point streak to advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals, to the lows of losing seven straight away from home and losing in overtime in game six against the lightning, this season has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride.

Hockey fans know that there is nothing better than when your team scores an overtime winning goal and there is nothing more deflating than playing 60 minutes plus and losing in overtime.

Looking at a bright spot of the Islanders season, the Blue and Orange have won eight games regular season games in overtime and two post season games in extra time. Those extra points during the regular season were critical for the Islanders in getting a great spot in the bubble.

Overtime is where the players get to show off their best skills, it becomes a game of puck possession and if you lose your man chances are the puck will end up in your net.

The blue and orange have found overtime winners at the Coliseum, the Barclays Center and deep in enemy territory.

This list will rank the top five of those ten overtime winners. I will be looking at the goal itself, the opponent and the importance of the game.

Here are the Islanders top five overtime winners from the 19-20 season:

NUMBER 5

BEAUVILLIER vs DALLAS 2/4

The Islanders faced the stars in the early days of February when both teams were making pushes to get into great postseason position.

Anthony Beauvillier started the scoring a minute and thirty seconds in the game to give the Islanders an early 1-0 lead. The Stars answered much later in the first to tie the game up.

Dallas then took a 2-1 lead in the second period, but Derick Brassard answered a little bit more than a minute later to tie the game up at two.

The third period was just like the first two periods. The Stars opened up the scoring early in the period, then the Islanders answered in the third on the power play to tie the game and force overtime.

Semyon Varlamov made a great save in the first shift of overtime to stop Jamie Benn on a semi-breakaway. Later in overtime, Ben Bishop made a breakout pass to Pavelski on the boards, just open his blueline in the neutral zone. Pavelski went to send a saucer pass up the wall, but Brock Nelson knocked it down and fed it to a streaking Beauvillier.

Beauvillier came in full speed on a breakaway and roofed it on Bishop to give the Islanders the 4-3 home win!

Ben Bishop looked like a deer in headlights and was frozen when Beauvillier came down on the breakaway. Is he going to make a move? Is he going to shoot? And Beauviller saw a gap to shoot in the top shelf and let it rip. This goal was an absolute snipe.

NUMBER 3

NELSON vs PITTSBURGH 11/21

On the night of November 21st, the Islanders hosted the Penguins, at the Barclays Center, in the second game of a home and home series.

Going into that night, the blue and orange were tied for the franchise record point streak (15 games) and were looking to set the new record.

This game was just like the two previous times these two teams met before. Both previous meetings between the Isles and Pens before this game went into overtime, with Pittsburgh winning on November 7th and the Islanders winning in overtime, two nights prior.

The Islanders and Penguins traded goals in the first and second and took the ice for the third period tied 2-2.

The third period was a stalemate until Brock Nelson scored a powerplay goal to give the Islanders the lead with less than 5-minutes remaining.

Pittsburgh pushed to find an equalizer for the rest of the third and pulled the goalie with one minute remaining in the game.

Finally, the Penguins were rewarded for their efforts when Patric Hornqvist scored with 30 seconds left to tie the game.

Regulation ended tied 3-3 and that was enough to give the 2019-2020 Islanders the new franchise record point streak at 16 games.

But, the blue and orange wanted to cap this historic night with a win against their rivals.

The Isles and Pens traded chances for most of overtime and many fans thought this game was headed for a shootout.

With less than a minute remaining in overtime, the Penguins walked in and missed a shot that rung around the glass and Mathew Barzal picked up the loose puck and accelerated down the middle of the ice and this is where the magic happened:

Nelson walked the puck in and toe-dragged around Marcus Pettersson and then out-waited Matt Murray and slotted the backhand home for the game-winner.

Here’s the goal:

This goal was an absolute thing of beauty and put the cap on a historic night for the 2019-2020 Islanders!

NUMBER 2

BARZAL vs WASHINGTON 8/16

There is nothing better than playing one of your biggest rivals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Islanders did just that in the first round of this past season.

The Islanders dominated the series and going into game three they were up 2-0 and were looking to take a commanding lead and control of the series.

Just like most of this series, the Islanders dominated play in this game. They were up 1-0, courtesy of an Anders Lee goal at the end of the first, but Washington answered back on the power play in the second to tie the game up.

The Islanders had some great chances to take the lead in the third, but Holtby and the Caps defense stood tall and the game went into overtime.

Four minutes into overtime, the Capitals got their best chance of the game. Vrana came speeding down on a breakaway, but Varlamov closed the five-hole at the last second to deny the Caps from crawling back into the series.

Shortly after the Islanders broke the puck out. Derick Brassard made a beautiful cross-ice pass from the defensive zone on the far side wall to a streaking Jordan Eberle in front of the scorer’s box.

Barzal skated pass the left side defenseman and received a pass from Eberle right before the blueline. Barzal created enough space for himself to have a rush to the net. He took the puck towards Holtby’s crease and then moved the puck into the open net on his backhand to give the Islanders a 2-1 victory.

The goal was reviewed for offsides, but Barzal held his foot on the line and the play was clearly onsides.

This goal is a perfect example of how everyone on the ice contributed to the winning goal. Varlamov made a huge save. The defense got the puck to the half wall. Brassard made a great cross-ice pass to Eberle. Eberle feeds the puck to Barzal and the puck winds up in Washington’s net. All six Islanders players had a huge role in this goal.

The Islanders went on to dispose of the Capitals in five games and set themselves up with an Eastern Conference semi-finals matchup against the Flyers.

NUMBER 1

EBERLE vs TAMPA 9/15

For the first time in 27 years, the Islanders were playing in the Eastern Conference Finals and they were down three games to one heading into game five.

The Islanders showed their no quit attitude throughout the postseason and it was for certain that the Isles were not going down without a fight in this game.

This game was extremely fun to watch and had all the makings of a great playoff game. This one will definitely be shown on Islanders re-runs for decades to come.

Ryan Pulock got the Islanders on the board off of a power-play goal in the first period to give the Islanders an early 1-0 lead. The Lightning answered in the second courtesy of a Victor Hedman slapshot to tie the game at one.

The teams traded chances and the game headed for overtime. In the first overtime, Mathew Barzal had the chance to end the game with a breakaway but was stopped. The teams went back and forth until more than halfway through the second overtime the magic happened.

Tampa had an offensive zone faceoff and won it back to the point. Anders Lee skated to Kevin Shattenkirk to block the potential point shot. Shattenkirk wound up and whiffed. The puck fell right to Lee.

Lee chipped the puck past Shattenkirk and the Islanders had a two on one. The defensemen, Sergachev, skated at Lee to get the puck, which led to a wide-open Jordan Eberle in front. Lee dished the puck to Eberle and Eberle one-timed the puck home to give the Islanders an epic 2-1 win to force a game six.

This goal caused hysteria for all Islander fans around the world and the Islanders definitely did enjoy this goal themselves. Semyon Varlamov had an epic slide to celebrate with Eberle and the rest of the team.

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This past season was filled with so many great moments and moments for the Islanders. All fans are looking forward to seeing the Islanders take the ice for next season and begin their quest for the cup.

*All Stats Provided by the NHL*