Islanders 6, Penguins 4: John Tavares' second goal in as many contests snapped a tie midway through the third period as eighth-seeded New York evened its Eastern Conference first-round series with visiting Pittsburgh at two games apiece.

Captain Mark Streit collected two goals and an assist, Casey Cizikas tallied and set up two scores and Kyle Okposo scored for the third straight game - after finding the net just four times in the regular season. Former Penguins defenseman Brian Strait added a goal and Evgeni Nabokov turned aside 27 shots for the Islanders, who snapped a seven-game home losing streak in the playoffs.

Evgeni Malkin collected a goal and an assist for his fourth straight two-point performance of the series. James Neal scored in his return from a two-game absence due to a lower-body injury and Brandon Sutter and Pascal Dupuis also tallied for the top-seeded Penguins, who host Game 5 on Thursday.

Tavares stickhandled into the slot and unleashed a shot which was denied by the right pad of Marc-Andre Fleury (18 saves). Undeterred, Tavares alertly settled the puck and immediately wristed a second offering past the netminder at 10:11 of the third to give New York a 5-4 lead.

Pittsburgh scored its first third-period goal of the series 41 seconds into the session to claim a 4-3 edge. Chris Kunitz's wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle glanced off the pants of Dupuis and past Nabokov. Streit answered under four minutes later as his wrist shot caromed off the skate of Penguins defenseman Douglas Murray and into the net.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Pittsburgh D Kris Letang joined Montreal's P.K. Subban and Minnesota's Ryan Suter as finalists for the Norris Trophy. Letang, who missed 13 games with an injury, matched Subban for the league's scoring lead among defensemen with 38 points. ... Captain Sidney Crosby received a scare after a deflected shot from Strait caught him in the neck during the first period. Crosby, who was left with a welt, recently had returned to action after suffering a broken jaw on March 30. ... Pittsburgh D Brooks Orpik returned from a lower-body injury suffered on April 23. He blocked two shots in 18:44 of ice time.