Trent Hunter scored at the 1:09 mark of overtime to give the New York Islanders a 5-4 victory over the Thrashers in Atlanta Thursday night. The Isles held a 3-0 lead in the second period and a 4-3 lead with less than two minutes left in the third period but the Thrashers tied the game on Bobby Holik's goal and sent the game to overtime.

The game-winner came when off a face-off in the Thrashers' zone. Josef Vasicek stole the puck in the corner from Ken Klee and passed to Hunter who beat Kari Lehtonen to end the game and hand the Thrashers their fifth consecutive loss.

"Joe made a great play to pick off the puck and hit me in the slot," Hunter said.

“We won the draw," Klee explained. [Vasicek] reached with one hand and knocked it out of the air. He made a great play.”

The Islanders dominated play in the first period and took a 2-0 lead on goals by Mike Comrie and Vasicek. New York registered nine of the first ten shots on goal in the game.

Andy Hilbert made it 3-0 Isles just 1:02 into the second period off a pretty pass from Bryan Berard. Just two minutes later, the momentum of the game changed. With the Islanders on a power play, Berard pulled down Eric Perrin of Atlanta on a breakaway. Perrin was awarded a penalty shot which he converted by faking out DiPietro and making him move to the wrong side of the net on a nifty move.

The Islanders power play continued to struggle, going 0-for-5 on the night after a 1-for-9 performance Tuesday night against Pittsburgh.

"Our power play was more beneficial to them," Isles' coach Ted Nolan said. "I don't know how many times we have to teach it. We just have to be patient with it and keep going over the basics."

Later in the second period, Ken Klee scored his first goal of the year, followed by Alexei Zhitnik who tied the score with five minutes left in the middle stanza. Two of the three goals were shots that DiPietro usually would have stopped.

Comrie put the Islanders back in the lead by scoring his 20th at the 3:17 mark of the third period before Holik's game tying goal with 1:22 left in regulation time.

“I give our team credit," Nolan said after the game. "We buckled down in the third period and got it done. The way we surrendered the three-goal led was disheartening. Fortunately, we found a way to get the two points.”

The Islanders remain in tenth place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the Philadelphia and Buffalo in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot. This weekend, they play two important home games against the Flyers and Panthers.

"We let them back in, but we were able to keep battling and get the extra point," said Hunter. "It was huge to get two points. Every point is crucial now."

Notes

The Islanders will be honoring the 17 players who were part of all four of their Stanley Cup wins from 1980-1983 as part of the "Core of the Four" celebration. In addition to the players, former coach Al Arbour, GM Bill Torrey and scout Earl Ingarfield will honored as well.

Rookie center Frans Nielsen left the game in the second period with a shoulder injury and did not return. He will be reevaluated Friday but the injury is not believed to be serious.

Defenseman Brendan Witt is very close to returning to action and could play Saturday against Philadelphia. Witt has missed the last eight games due to a sprained knee.

Defenseman Rob Davison earned his first point as an Islander when he assisted on Comrie's first goal.