Written by Allan Kreda at New York Times.com
There was another first at Barclays Center on Sunday night: an N.H.L. playoff game.
The Islanders hosted the Florida Panthers in the first postseason matchup in Brooklyn, a chance for the Islanders to inch closer to winning a playoff series for the first time since 1993.
After a wild second period, in which the Islanders scored three times after trailing by 2-0, defenseman Thomas Hickey scored at 12 minutes 31 seconds of overtime to lift the Islanders to a rousing 4-3 victory and a 2-1 lead in the teams’ best-of-seven first-round Eastern Conference series.
Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday night in Brooklyn.
Hickey picked the perfect time for his first playoff goal, taking a pass from Brock Nelson and beating Roberto Luongo to send the home crowd into a frenzy, a celebration that rivaled the cacophony at Nassau Coliseum, the Islanders’ home on Long Island for 43 years.
“There was an unbelievable pass, and I saw an opening,” said Hickey, who also scored in overtime at Washington to clinch a playoff spot for the Islanders on April 5. “Just shoot the puck in overtime — that’s the key.”
The Islanders began the game with the line of Casey Cizikas, Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck, and they took the opening face-off, which raised the decibel levels from the capacity crowd that much higher.
But Florida forward Reilly Smith dampened the crowd’s spirit when he scored his fourth goal in three games at 2:25 of the first period, in which the Panthers outshot the Islanders by 12-8.
The second period took on a topsy-turvy feeling similar to the Islanders’ 5-4 win in Game 1. The teams combined for five goals and a dose of controversy.
Smith’s shot early in the middle period ricocheted off the boards behind Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss to Aleksander Barkov at the doorstep. Barkov’s easy tap-in at 1:11 made it 2-0.
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