Anders Lee's late goal lifts NY Islanders to fifth straight win in dramatic fashion

Anders Lee scored with 32 seconds remaining to lift the New York Islanders to a 5-4 win over the Florida Panthers on Sunday night.

Rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer had two goals and an assist, and David Rittich made 28 saves as the Islanders extended their winning streak to five games and improved to 8-2 in their last 10. Carson Soucy and Bo Horvat also scored for New York.

The 18-year-old Schaefer reached 20 goals on the season, moving within three of Hall of Famer Brian Leetch for the most by a rookie defenseman in NHL history. “He's doing things [that are] very special out there,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said after the game. “He's jumping in his plays and right now he's shooting with confidence.”

Sam Bennett scored twice, and Sandis Vilmanis and Sam Reinhart added goals for Florida, which dropped its second straight. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 21 saves.

Florida jumped ahead 2-0 in the first period. Vilmanis slipped a backhander through Rittich’s pads at 3:44, and Bennett added a power-play goal later in the period. Schaefer cut the deficit late in the first when his slap shot deflected several times before bouncing over Bobrovsky.

Soucy tied it at 2 with less than eight minutes remaining in the second. Bennett answered with his second of the night to put Florida back in front, but Horvat’s team-leading 25th goal evened it at 3-3 late in the period.

Schaefer gave New York a 4-3 lead midway through the third, walking in from the blue line and beating Bobrovsky with a wrist shot. Reinhart tied it with 1:58 left after Florida pulled its goaltender, but Lee’s backhand-to-forehand finish sealed the Islanders’ comeback.

“It's a big two points for us,” Lee said. “We're putting our push on, and we got teams behind us that are chasing, and we got to keep putting as much space as we can. And take it game by game.”