Bo Horvat collected his second career hat trick Thursday night as the New York Islanders snapped their season-opening three-game losing streak, beating the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 in Elmont, N.Y.
The Islanders responded immediately after Oilers center Trent Frederic drew a high-sticking penalty with 4:53 remaining and the score tied 2-2. Horvat won a faceoff with Adam Henrique and moved into the slot, where he took a pass from Mathew Barzal and beat Stuart Skinner.
Horvat scored an empty-netter with 8.1 seconds left to complete his first hat trick since Oct. 22, 2019.
Barzal also scored for the Islanders, who avoided the first 0-4-0 start in franchise history. David Rittich made 31 saves in his New York debut.
Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored for the Oilers, who fell to 1-1-0 on a five-game Eastern Conference road trip. Goalie Stuart Skinner recorded 21 saves.
The Islanders scored first for the first time this season with 3:37 left in the opening period, when Barzal stole the puck from Evan Bouchard in the neutral zone, raced up the left side of the ice and flicked a puck over Skinner’s glove shoulder.
Scott Mayfield was whistled for tripping 57 seconds later to set up the power play that led to Draisaitl’s goal with 2:40 remaining. David Tomasek retrieved the puck following a faceoff deep in the Islanders zone and passed to Draisaitl, who dished to McDavid before darting for the net. McDavid, at the goal line, fed Draisaitl, who fired a shot over Rittich’s stick.
The Oilers took the lead shortly before the midway point of the second. Nugent-Hopkins, at the edge of the neutral zone, took a pass from Ty Emberson, skated around Jean-Gabriel Pageau and sent a shot beyond Rittich’s glove at the 8:53 mark.
Pageau helped set up Horvat’s short-handed goal a little more than nine minutes later. After Rittich stopped shots by Draisaitl and McDavid, Pageau sent a backhanded pass to Horvat, who had a few steps on Bouchard before beating Skinner stick side with 2:04 left for his first goal of the season.
