NEW YORK (AP) — Mathew Barzal scored his second goal of the game on a deflection 1:24 into the second overtime and the Islanders beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in Game 4 on Saturday to avoid a sweep in their first-round playoff series.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau also scored and Semyon Varlamov stopped 42 shots — including 18 in the overtimes — to help the Islanders stave off elimination.
Seth Jarvis and Stefan Noesen scored and Frederik Andersen finished with 33 saves for Carolina, which is seeking to advance to the second round for the fifth time in six years.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Varlamov stopped a shot by Jordan Staal in the opening minute of the second overtime. The Islanders’ Robert Bortuzzo then fired a shot from the point that deflected in off Barzal for the win.
It was the Islanders’ first overtime goal in the playoffs since Anthony Beauvillier in Game 6 of the 2021 Eastern Conference finals against Tampa Bay in the final game at the Nassau Coliseum. The Lightning won that series at home in Game 7.
Both teams had chances early in the first overtime. Varlamov stopped a try by Jesperi Kotkaniemi at 1:37. Andersen denied Brock Nelson on a 2-on-1 with Anders Lee at 3:45.
Jarvis had a shot near the midpoint of the period that Varlamov caught and squeezed, drawing chants of “Var-ly! Var-ly!” from the UBS Arena crowd.
There was some pushing and shoving at the end of the first overtime as Lee took exception to being knocked down by an elbow from Carolina defenseman Dmitry Orlov after the buzzer.
With the score tied 1-1 after two periods, the Islanders began the third with their first power play of the game, thanks to a penalty called on Carolina’s Sebastian Aho at the end of the second.
They took advantage as Pageau got the rebound off Noah Dobson’s shot and fired a shot past Andersen from the left circle at 1:38. It was the Islanders’ second goal on six power plays in the series against a Hurricanes team that was first in the league on the penalty kill during the season.
Carolina tied it with their second power-play goal of the game as Noesen redirected a pass in front from Teuvo Teravainen with 5:52 left for his second of the series.
The Hurricanes outshot the Islanders 8-6 in a tightly played first period and scored to take the lead.
The desperate Islanders came out aggressive and had the better chances in the opening minutes of the game, but couldn’t convert. Andersen made a nice save to deny Pierre Engvall in…