Brady Tkachuk capped a hat trick by scoring with 24 seconds left in overtime Saturday afternoon for the visiting Ottawa Senators, who damaged the New York Islanders’ playoff hopes with a 4-3 win in Elmont, N.Y.
Tkachuk scored off a feed from Shane Pinto 91 seconds into a power play generated when Bo Horvat — who tied the game for the Islanders by scoring on the power play with 37.2 seconds left in the third — was whistled for holding with 1:55 left in overtime.
The hat trick was the second of the season for Tkachuk, who collected three goals against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Feb. 13, and the third of his career.
Ridly Greig also scored for the Senators, who have won three straight, all in overtime or a shootout. Goalie Joonas Korpisalo made 30 saves.
Matt Martin and Kyle Palmieri also scored for the Islanders, who fell out of the second Eastern Conference wild card spot with their third straight loss (0-2-1). New York has 73 points, one behind the Detroit Red Wings, who beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Goalie Semyon Varlamov recorded 26 saves for the Islanders.
Martin scored on a wraparound rebound 4:27 into the first before the teams traded goals in the back half of the second. Tkachuk tied the score with 8:14 left before Palmieri took a pass from a whirling Jean-Gabriel Pageau and sent an angled shot between Korpisalo’s glove and the post with 3:38 left.
The Senators tied the game 6:35 into the third following an impressive give-and-take in the crease between Greig and Tim Stutzle, who exchanged the puck before Greig buried a point-blank shot as Varlamov was caught sprawling in the other direction.
The teams swapped power play goals in the final seven-plus minutes of regulation.
Tkachuk scored again with 7:46 left, just 16 seconds after Noah Dobson was whistled for delay of game. Mathieu Joseph was called for hooking with 1:50 remaining and the Islanders pulled Varlamov to skate 6-on-4, which paid off when Horvat fired a shot from the slot past a screened Korpisalo.
–Field Level Media
