Horvat's Shootout Double Seals NYI Comeback Survival, 4-3

The Islanders built a 3-0 lead, watched Nashville claw all the way back to tie it in the third, then needed Bo Horvat to score twice in the shootout to escape with a 4-3 win. It was the kind of game that should not have been that complicated — and yet.

New York came out with intent. Anthony Duclair tipped home his third of the year at 3:07 of the first, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Tony DeAngelo picking up the assists, and that first-period goal proved to be the margin-shifting moment of the night — the score went from even to NYI 1-0 and Nashville never fully recovered in regulation. Brayden Schenn added a backhand goal at 8:07 of the first off a feed from Ondrej Palat, and Bo Horvat snapped one home just 68 seconds into the second period — Matthew Schaefer and Simon Holmstrom assisting — to push it to 3-0. At that point, the Islanders looked like they were coasting toward a comfortable road win.

Then Nashville remembered it had Filip Forsberg. He wired a wrist shot past Semyon Varlamov at 9:42 of the second — Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos setting him up — and Alexander Kerfoot followed with another wrist shot at 13:02 to make it 3-2. The Predators completed the comeback when Ryan O'Reilly backhanded his seventh of the season at 4:16 of the third, Forsberg picking up his tenth assist on the play. What looked like a runaway was suddenly a tied game, and the story of the night had flipped entirely. Juuse Saros finished with 26 saves on 29 shots; Varlamov stopped 20 of 23. Neither goaltender was the problem — Nashville's offense just found its legs two periods too late, and New York's defense appeared to go passive once the lead felt safe.

The shootout belonged to the Islanders. Kyle Palmieri scored on a snap shot, then Horvat converted on a wrist shot to close it out, giving New York the extra point and the final 4-3 verdict. Horvat now has six goals in regulation this season and added the shootout winner for good measure. The Islanders will take the two points without apology, but the way this one nearly slipped away looks like a warning worth heeding. Giving up three unanswered goals after building a three-goal cushion is not a formula that holds up over an 82-game season.