The New York Islanders got a tip that they had won long before the referees made it official.
Matt Moulson scored a delayed, video-reviewed goal in overtime to give the Islanders a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.
''Our video coordinator saw it while they were reviewing it and told us on the bench that he thought 100 percent it was in,'' Islanders coach Scott Gordon said.
Moulson was credited with an in-close goal at 1:56. Officials reviewing the play ruled that the puck went off the glove of goalie Dan Ellis and completely over the goal line before Ellis swiped the puck back into play.
''It's really tough to see when it's behind you,'' Ellis said.
The review, which occurred at the next stoppage of play at 3:28 of overtime, took about 10 minutes.
''We were coming up with faceoff plays,'' Moulson said. ''I think we were trying to think it wasn't a goal ... maybe reverse psychology there.''
Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier said the lengthy review is just part of the game.
''It's too bad it took that long,'' Lecavalier said. ''I'm sure they looked at it from every possible angle.''
The original call on the ice was no goal.
''You can't get too excited, you've got to wait for the official call,'' New York defenseman Mark Eaton said. ''But when it comes, obviously, we were happy.''
Michael Grabner and P.A. Parenteau also scored for the Islanders.
The Lightning got goals from Sean Bergenheim and Martin St. Louis.
Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher wasn't upset about the overturned call, but was clearly unhappy with his team's early play.
''To be honest with you, I didn't care about the review,'' Boucher said. ''We didn't come out in the first period. We didn't skate. We didn't battle. Half our bench wasn't there. Unacceptable.''
Boucher plans to meet with a number of players on an individual basis before Friday night's game at Atlanta.
Lecavalier returned to the lineup after missing one game because of a right hand injury. The Lightning center was scratched from the lineup on Monday against Dallas, two days after he was hit on the first knuckle of his hand by a shot during a 6-0 loss at Florida.
''It felt pretty good,'' Lecavalier said. ''Obviously we wanted to make sure that it couldn't get worse.''
New York had a carryover power play into overtime - but failed to capitalize - after Lightning defenseman Pavel Kubina was called for tripping Blake Comeau with 7.4 seconds left in regulation.
Grabner put the Islanders ahead 1-0 at 2:15 of the first. Bergenheim, a former Islanders forward, tied it with a breakaway goal with 1:55 left in the period.
Tampa Bay went up 2-1 when St. Louis scored from the low right circle 4:44 into the second. Parenteau pulled New York even at 2 during a 5-on-3 power play at the 10-minute mark of the second.
The Lightning failed to score later in the second during a two-minute, two-man advantage. Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro stopped shots from the left and right circles by Steven Stamkos and Lecavalier.
DiPietro also made a save late in the second on Bergenheim's short-handed breakaway.
Notes: New York C Doug Weight played in his 1,227th game, moving him past former Islanders captain Ed Westfall into 77th place on the NHL career list. ... Tampa Bay D Mattias Ohlund (right knee) could rejoin the lineup next week. He hasn't played in a game this season. ... Islanders C Josh Bailey, who left Monday's game against Toronto with a hip flexor injury, didn't play. ... Stamkos had an assist, giving him five assists and 10 points in six games this season. ... New York RW Trent Hunter (foot) returned after missing two games.
