Pittsburgh Penguins 2-4 New York Islanders
The New York Islanders stormed to life in the third period to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 on the road.
It would take 4:40 for the hosts to go in front via Joona Koppanen. Then, with 15 seconds left in the frame, the Penguins' captain Sidney Crosby doubled the score. In doing so, the Canadian passed Wayne Gretzky's for the fourth most points on a single team with his 1,670th point in Pittsburgh colours.
Following a scoreless second period, the Islanders got on the board 17 seconds into the final frame through Kyle Palmieri. Five minutes later, Noah Dobson tied things up. It got worse for the home team, as Pierre Engvall completed the New York comeback with 6:52 to go.
The Penguins, now chasing the game, tried to return to level pegging. In the end, they would fall short. A Simon Holmstrom empty-netter ended things as the Islanders prevailed.
The victory for New York puts them three points back of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. They will face a key game on Thursday night versus the Montreal Canadiens, the current holders of the eighth spot. As for Pittsburgh, the distance between themselves and eighth has grown to seven points as their four-game winning run comes to an end.
Dallas Stars 4-3 Anaheim Ducks (OT)
In what was a back-and-forth thriller in Texas, the Dallas Stars got past the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in overtime.
The game's opening goal came 11:42 from Wyatt Johnston on a power play. Nikita Nesterenko restored the game to parity 2:48 into the second frame. However, the hosts would jump back ahead two minutes thanks to Mikael Granlund.
Despite falling behind again, the Ducks would not go down without a fight. Leo Carlsson tied things up, before putting his side in front from a penalty. The latter came towards the end of the second, meaning the Stars went into the intermission behind. Yet, it would take 4:37 into the third for them to score again, as Thomas Harley made it 3-3.
That was how it stayed for the rest of regulation, meaning overtime was required. Midway through the mini-period, Grandlund got his second to give the hosts the victory.
Dallas remain second in the West with that win, inching them closer to locking down a playoff spot. As for Anaheim, they fall further behind in their push for a late postseason berth. They are now nine points back of eighth spot.