New York Islanders' Brock Nelson celebrates with teammates after scoring the...

New York Islanders' Brock Nelson celebrates with teammates after scoring the winning goal in overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Credit: AP/Frank Franklin II

The Islanders might need to sign yet another defenseman after Ryan Pulock was injured on the first shift. And perhaps an extra goalie after Marcus Hogberg could not continue after regulation.

Somehow, though, the Islanders, playing on the second night of a back-to-back with only five defensemen, were victorious in Tony DeAngelo’s debut a day after he signed as a free agent. They rallied from an early two-goal deficit for an entertaining and frenetic 3-2 overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night at UBS Arena after Ilya Sorokin had to replace Hogberg in the extra period.

“It was tough losing Pulock right away,” said DeAngelo, who played 25:10, the second-most ice time among the Islanders behind defenseman Alexander Romanov’s 26:41. “I don’t think I was expecting those minutes. But I thought our team played really well. We really controlled the game.”

The Islanders (21-20-7) extended their winning streak to a season-best four games as they moved past the Penguins into seventh place in the Metropolitan Division and moved above NHL .500 for the first time since Nov. 14. They are 4-2-0 on their seven-game homestand, have won seven of nine and sit six points behind the Blue Jackets for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot with two games in hand and five teams between them.

“We’ve been talking about taking advantage of the stretch and now we’re proving to do so,” said Brock Nelson, who took Kyle Palmieri’s feed for the overtime winner at 2:03. “We feel like we have something good going.”

Pulock exited favoring his left arm 15 seconds into the first period after getting his skates tangled with Jackson Blake coming around the Islanders’ crease. Blake also crashed into Hogberg in the third period. Coach Patrick Roy said both were dealing with upper-body injuries.

Hogberg stopped 24 shots, but Sorokin got the win after stopping the only shot he saw in overtime.

Pyotr Kochetkov made 23 saves for the speedy Hurricanes (30-16-4), playing their first game after acquiring top-line wing Mikko Rantanen from the Avalanche and former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall from Chicago on Friday.

DeAngelo cleared waivers on Saturday after signing a one-year, $775,000 contract prorated for the rest of the season on Friday. He is known for his power-play skill and immediately was inserted as the first unit’s quarterback. The Islanders were 0-for-3 with two shots on the power play.

The 29-year-old from Sewell, New Jersey, was playing in Russia and had six goals and 26 assists in 34 KHL games for St. Petersburg SKA. He had three goals and eight assists in 31 games for the Hurricanes last season.

DeAngelo was bought out by the Rangers in 2021 and the Flyers in 2023.

“I’m real grateful for the opportunity,” said DeAngelo, who wore No. 4 instead of his familiar No. 77. “Two weeks ago, my NHL career looked pretty bleak. I wouldn’t say I took it for granted when I was here, but to get another opportunity to be back, you can’t ask for much more. So hopefully I’ll take advantage of it.”

“Outstanding,” Roy said. “He’s smart. He moves the puck well. Skates well. I think he’s a good fit for us.”

Anders Lee tied it at 2-2 at 6:26 of the third period as he knocked in a rebound of Bo Horvat’s shot that Kochetkov could not glove.

Sebastian Aho’s feed from behind the goal line deflected off the skate of rookie defenseman Isaiah George as the Hurricanes took a 2-0 lead at 6:30 of the first period. Jack Roslovic had beaten Hogberg over his blocker from the far wall off the rush at 5:18.

Romanov brought the Islanders within 2-1 at 17:53 of the first period with a shot through traffic from the left circle.

“We’ve got a lot of resolve right now,” Lee said. “Tonight was a great back-to-back win. Tough win. The defense corps stood tall.”

Notes & quotes: The Islanders placed Noah Dobson (lower body) on long-term injured reserve to create salary-cap space for DeAngelo .  .  . The Islanders beat the Hurricanes twice at home in one season for the first time since 2012 .  .  . Defenseman Dennis Cholowski was a healthy scratch .  .  . Forward Maxim Tsyplakov was eligible to play after completing a three-game suspension, but Roy did not alter his forward lines. “They all deserve to play,” he said. “Max understands that.”

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