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Final: Islanders beat Pittsburgh, 3-2, in double overtime
Winning Goal: Josh Bailey scores at :51 of double OT after a shocking giveaway by Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry, who passed the puck directly to the Isles forward.
Key statistic: The Isles were the first team to win a game in the series after allowing the game’s first goal.
Turning point: The bobble of the puck on Leo Komarov’s pass to Jordan Eberle actually probably allowed Eberle to score on the Islanders’ first shot of the third period, at 8:50, to tie the game at 2-2.
Did you notice? Isles coach Barry Trotz split up his struggling D pair of Nick Leddy with Scott Mayfield midway through the first period. He put them back together in the second period.
Injury report: Isles forward Oliver Wahlstrom left the game at 11:57 of the third after being hit awkwardly into the boards by Pittsburgh’s Mike Matheson. Wahlstrom’s right leg twisted violently and his head snapped hard to the right… Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith (undisclosed) remained unavailable.
Other news: Attendance for Wednesday’s Game 6 at Nassau Coliseum will be increased by an unspecified amount from the 6,800 that were at Games 3 and 4. The Islanders emailed season ticket subscribers Monday to announce that due to changing New York State regulations, additional tickets in the fully vaccinated sections of the arena will be available to season ticketholders.
Three stars
1. Ilya Sorokin (Islanders). His 48 saves were 95 percent of the reason the Isles made it to OT.
2. Josh Bailey (Islanders). A goal and an assist, and scored the winner.
3. J.G. Pageau (Islanders). Assisted on Eberle’s goal and had nine hits and 14 faceoff wins.
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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