AUBURN — The Islanders Hockey Club has been on the wrong side of many one-goal games this season, and Friday it appeared that would be the case again.

But the Islanders kept battling and tied the game with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, then scored in overtime to defeat the Twin City Thunder 3-2 in a USPHL National Collegiate Development Conference North Division game at Norway Savings Bank Arena.

“If you look at our record, you may think we aren’t a good hockey team, but on the contrary, we have been in 95 percent of our games,” Islanders coach Tim Kyrkostas said. “We have had 14 one-goal losses. Credit to my kids, they didn’t throw in the towel. They are showing up every day trying to get better.”

Thunder (18-14-4, 40 points) coach Dan Hodge wasn’t happy with the way his team played the entire game.

“We didn’t play well; we didn’t skate, we were lucky to be up 2-1 going into the third,” Hodge said. “They deserved it more than us.”

The Islanders (12-23-2, 26 points) kept the puck in the Twin City end for the majority of the third period, but Thunder goalie Dane Couture (36 saves) kept them at bay. In the final two minutes, with the Islanders in the middle of pulling goalie Connor Strobel, William Laychur made a cross-ice pass in the offensive zone to Matthew Yeager, who beat a sliding Couture to tie the game at 2-2.

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“At that point, it was full desperation, we were prepared to pull our goaltender,” Kyrkostas said. “We were going to throw everything at the net and try to get pucks to the net. We scored right before the goalie got to the bench.”

It took 75 seconds in overtime, but Dustin Bergstrom broke into the Twin City zone, shook off a Thunder defenseman, and ripped a shot past Couture to end it.

The Islanders peppered Couture in the early going of the first period, but the Islanders couldn’t get anything by the 20-year-old.

Twin City had trouble early on to put shots on Strobel (24 saves). Newcomer Nick Liotino squeaked the Thunder’s second shot of the game through Strobel’s right arm for a 1-0 lead at the 6:18 mark.

“It was Nick’s first game, one shot, one goal and he played a lot of minutes tonight,” Hodge said. “We just didn’t answer (the bell). I feel bad for Couture; he played really well tonight.”

Liotino was recently released by the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks of the North American Hockey League.

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The Islanders tied the game at 1-1 when Laychur’s shot from the slot fluttered past Couture two minutes into the second period.

Tyler Healey put Twin City back on top five minutes into the middle frame when he shot home a Trace Norwell pass from the slot. It was Healey’s team-leading 17th goal of the season.

Strobel made a couple of saves later in the period to keep the deficit to one goal. One was a diving save, and he stopped Thunder forward Steven Armstrong in the final seconds of the period on a short-handed attempt.

The Thunder travel to take on the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs at 5:20 on Saturday in Hooksett, New Hampshire. They sit one point out of the fourth and final play spot in the North Division.

“At the end of the day, we were tied with the (Northern) Cyclones coming into (today). They had a game in hand and they won tonight,” Hodge said. “We got a point, and now we aren’t in the (final playoff spot). We have a big game tomorrow; that’s all we can focus on.”


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