The Islanders revived after a successful coach’s challenge and pulled out a 4-3 overtime win on Thomas Hickey’s goal at 12:31 of the extra session Sunday night at Barclays Center.
After a very cautious third period and OT, Hickey scored his first career playoff goal, putting home a feed from Brock Nelson to beat Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo and put the Islanders ahead 2-1 in the series, with Game 4 coming on Wednesday.
After the craziness of the second period — a successful challenge by Jack Capuano, five goals and the Islanders’ rally from two goals down — the third period was played at a tamer pace.