NHL: Sillinger finishes Islanders’ rally in overtime

Rick DiPietro kept the Islanders in the game, and Mike Sillinger made sure it resulted in a win.

Sillinger scored a power-play goal with 27.7 seconds left in overtime to help the New York Islanders snap a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night in Tampa, Fla.

Sillinger scored from the left circle during New York’s second power play in overtime.

“Anytime you get two power plays in overtime, you have to score,” Sillinger said.

DiPietro made 32 saves, and captain Bill Guerin snapped his 16-game goal drought for the Islanders. Andy Hilbert had the other New York goal.

“We were desperate for a win,” DiPietro said. “We haven’t been playing our best hockey, so to come into Tampa, it’s a good win for us.”

Tampa Bay got a pair of third-period goals from Brad Richards. Johan Holmqvist made 30 saves.

Hilbert gave New York a 2-1 lead at 10:45 of the third. Richards got the Lightning even with his second of the game during a 5-on-3 power play with 6:21 left in regulation.

Guerin put the Islanders up 1-0 at 12:09 of the second. He scored from the right circle after Mike Comrie won a faceoff in the Tampa Bay zone.

The Lightning tied it on Richards’ power-play goal from just inside the blue line at 3:51 of the third.

Capitals 6, Thrashers 3: At Washington, Nicklas Backstrom and Jeff Schultz scored a minute apart in the first period, and the Capitals got two goals from Mike Green in a victory over Atlanta.

Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, whose previous four games were decided by one goal.

Penguins 2, Canucks 1 (SO): At Vancouver, British Columbia, rookie defenseman Kris Letang scored his second straight shootout winner in the sixth round, lifting Pittsburgh to a win over the Canucks.

Bruins 2, Maple Leafs 1: At Toronto, Chuck Kobasew and Dennis Wideman scored goals and Alex Auld earned his first victory with Boston as the Bruins shut down the Maple Leafs.

Toronto, which had won four in a row, outshot the Bruins but solved Auld just once. He made his first start since being acquired from Phoenix on Thursday, to fill in for the injured Tim Thomas.

Sabres 7, Sharks 1: At San Jose, Ales Kotalik, Tim Connolly, Michael Ryan and Paul Gaustad scored in the second period and Buffalo added to San Jose’s home woes with a victory over the Sharks.

Wild 2, Blue Jackets 1: At Columbus, Ohio, Brian Rolston’s third-period goal and Niklas Backstrom’s 31 saves helped Minnesota beat the Blue Jackets.

Hurricanes 5, Canadiens 1: At Montreal, Ray Whitney scored twice and Matt Cullen had three assists to lead Carolina to a win over the Canadiens.

Cam Ward made 35 saves, and Erik Cole, Eric Staal and Rod Brind’Amour scored for Carolina.

Coyotes 4, Kings 2: At Los Angeles, Radim Vrbata scored on a power play after Kings captain Rob Blake was ejected, and Phoenix ended a four-game road losing streak with a victory over Los Angeles Kings.

Predators 4, Ducks 2: At Nashville, Tennessee, Jordin Tootoo recorded a “Gordie Howe hat trick” with a goal, assist and a fight in the Predators’ victory over Anaheim.

The Predators snapped a two-game losing streak and ended Anaheim’s two-game winning run.