Tampa, FL (Sports Network) – After a lengthy official review, Matt Moulson’s fluttering shot in overtime was ruled a goal, giving the New York Islanders a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Moulson hit the puck while surrounded by traffic near the right side of the ice, and it deflected off a stick into the air. Lightning goaltender Dan Ellis reached for the puck as it was crossing the goal line, managing to swipe it out with a backward motion.
That came 1:56 into overtime, but play was not stopped to review the play until there was 1:32 remaining. After about 10 minutes, the official announced that the puck completely crossed the goal line, giving the Islanders their third consecutive victory.
“We got some tips saying that guys thought it was in,” said Islanders defenseman Mark Eaton. “Obviously you can’t get too excited, you’ve got to wait for the official call. But when it came, obviously we were happy.”
P.A. Parenteau and Michael Grabner also scored for New York, while Rick DiPietro made 28 saves.
Sean Bergenheim and Martin St. Louis had the goals for Tampa Bay, which has lost two of three. Ellis stopped 22 shots in defeat.
“I don’t know how they saw it cleanly,” Ellis said of the review. “You take that long, you would think that usually it would go the other direction. Obviously they saw something that we haven’t yet, and you gotta move on.”
Grabner gave the Islanders the lead 2:15 into the game, but Bergenheim evened the contest late in the first period. After an Islanders shot was deflected, Bergenheim got the puck on a clear breakaway and beat Ellis low to the left side with 1:55 remaining.
Tampa Bay then went in front early in the middle period, after gaining possession off a turnover. St. Louis took a pass from Steven Stamkos on the right side of the ice just as he crossed into New York’s zone. St. Louis used a quick backhand move to get the puck around his defender as he cut to the center, then put a shot by DiPietro at 4:44.
But midway through the period, Parenteau netted his second goal of the season with the Islanders on the power play. DiPietro later made a big save on Bergenheim, who got another breakaway chance but wasn’t able to cash in.
With 7.4 seconds left in regulation, Lightning defenseman Pavel Kubina was whistled for tripping. While the Islanders weren’t able to take advantage of the 4-on-3 during overtime, they got the controversial game-winner shortly thereafter.
This was the first of four meetings between the teams this season. The Lightning won three of four in 2009-10…Islanders defenseman James Wisniewski had an assist, and has points in all five games he’s played this season.