Big third carries Islanders to victory

Remain a point ahead of Penguins

Josh Bailey and Hudson Fasching each had a goal and an assist in the third period, and the New York Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Fasching gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead when he directed a fluttering puck over the goal line with his knee at 7:37 of the third. The goal was initially waved off due to a distinct kicking motion, but upon a lengthy review, that call was overturned.

The Islanders (33-25-8) maintained a one- point lead over the Penguins for the first wild card in the Eastern Conference, but the Penguins have played three fewer games. The teams meet Thursday night.

“You have to have your best 20 [minutes] in the third and we have found a way to do that,” Islanders forward Anders Lee said. “It’s part of our style, we start to wear teams down.”

Casey Cizikas also scored for New York as the Islanders improved to 10-3-3 in their past 16 games.

Other games Panthers 2, Goldem Knights 1:

Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves as Florida ended Vegas’ three-game winning streak. Ryan Lomberg and Aleksander Barkov scored for the Panthers, who kept pace in the wild-card race on a busy night in the NHL.

Maple Leafs 4, Devils 3: Auston Matthews scored on a power play with 2:53 remaining to help Toronto win on the road in Newark, N.J. Michael Bunting tied the game on a rebound with 4:50 to play, The goal for Matthews, who had not scored in his past three games, was his 29th of the season. Toronto improved to 9-0-2 in its past 11 meetings with New Jersey.

Hurricanes 4, Canadiens

3: Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored the deciding goal in the sixth round of a shootout as Carolina rallied to win in Montreal. Jesper Fast tied the score, 3-3, with 3:38 left in regulation as he cut across the front of the net and turned and knocked in a rebound. Carolina moved four points ahead of second-place New Jersey in the Metropolitian Division.

Lightning 5, Flyers 2: Alex Killorn and Nikita Kucherov each had two goals and an assist and Tampa Bay snapped a fivegame losing streak with a win at home. Alexei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves for the Lightning, who have been 0-4-1 since a 3-0 victory in Detroit on Feb. 25. The Flyers have lost five of six.

Flames 1, Wild 0: Tyler Toffoli scored in the sudden death round of the shootout to give Calgary a win in St. Paul, Minn. Jacob Markstrom stopped all 40 shots in net for Calgary for his first shutout of the year. The 40 shots by the Wild were the most surrendered by the Flames all season.

Notes

Toronto center Ryan O’Reilly, one of the Maple Leafs’ marquee acquisitions leading up to the trade deadline, had surgery to repair a broken finger on his left hand. He is expected to be out four weeks.