Anthony Beauvillier's OT goal lifts Islanders over Stars
Anthony Beauvillier of the Islanders celebrates his first period goal against the Stars at Barclays Center on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Islanders’ power play had moved the puck and gotten shots on net but still couldn’t score on the first four tries. Then, it needed two goals on the final man advantage for one to count.
But it was enough to eventually earn the Islanders a crucial 4-3 overtime win over the Stars on Tuesday night at Barclays Center as Kieffer Bellows, the 19th overall pick in 2016, made his NHL debut.
“I think we have a lot of character in this room and it showed tonight,” said Anthony Beauvillier, who scored twice including the winner on a breakaway at 2:52 of the overtime period after Brock Nelson forced a turnover. “A big power-play goal. It was a huge two points for us.”
The Islanders (30-15-6), on a 2-0-2 run, jumped back over the idle Flyers for fourth place in the Metropolitan Division, one point behind the third-place Blue Jackets, who beat the visiting Panthers, 1-0, in overtime. The Islanders hold the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and moved two points ahead of the Hurricanes and Maple Leafs, who have each played two more games.
“It was an exciting game,” said Bellows, 21, who got his first NHL point with a secondary assist on Derick Brassard’s sharp-angle shot to tie the game at 2 at 13:38 of the second period. “It was a good, team game.”
The Islanders were 1-for-5 on the power play with 13 shots and Mathew Barzal’s between-the-skates shot just off the left post tied it at 3 at 16:01 of the third period.
That came after Nelson’s apparent power-play goal at 14:33 was overturned when the Stars (30-18-5) successfully challenged Anders Lee had interfered with Ben Bishop (37 saves).
“I thought Bishop was just outside the blue [paint],” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “Anders was real tight to him. When I first saw it, I said there’s a good chance they’re going to call it back. But Bishop didn’t put up much of a fight to fight through all of that.
“That’s a good character test,” Trotz added. “You get one called back and you’re fighting for every point right now and you have to go get another one. And we did.”
Barzal said he also tried a similar between-the-skates shot in the first period but missed.
“A big bounce-back by our power play,” Barzal said. “That second point is huge in this race. It’s so tight. You can’t really give up anything.”
Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves for the Islanders, now 11-6 in games that go past regulation. They opened this three-game Brooklyn homestand with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Canucks on Saturday after Nelson tied it with 25.1 seconds left in the third period.
The Stars went ahead 3-2 at 6:56 of the third period as defenseman John Klingberg sent the puck on net from the right point and Varlamov tried to steer it to the corner with his stick rather than looking to smother it. Instead, the puck tipped up off his goalie stick and underneath the crossbar.
The Islanders dominated much of the first period against the Stars, coming off Monday night’s 5-3 win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, with an 18-8 shot advantage. They took a 1-0 lead at 1:30 as Beauvillier, who has three goals in three games and five in his last seven, took a feed from Jordan Eberle and beat Bishop with a backhander at the crease.
Denis Gurianov’s power-play goal tied the game at 1 at 14:08 of the first period and the Stars took a 2-1 lead at 12:12 as Jason Dickinson converted a three-on-two rush.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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