UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Anthony Beauvillier scored 1:08 into overtime and the New York Islanders rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Wednesday night to force a deciding Game 7 in their Stanley Cup semifinal series.

Jordan Eberle and Scott Mayfield scored for the Islanders, who rallied from two goals down in the second period. Semyon Varlamov finished with 22 saves.

Brayden Point scored for the ninth straight game and Anthony Cirelli had a goal and an assist for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 shots.

Beauvillier got his stick on the puck to pick off a pass in the right circle, gathered it and quickly beat Vasilevskiy on the first shot on goal of the extra period.

Game 7 is Friday night in Tampa, Florida.

Mayfield tied at 2 with 8:44 left when he got a pass from Mathew Barzal, skated into the right circle and beat Vasilevskiy with a shot that went in off the crossbar.

NOTES

BLUES: Defenseman Carl Gunnarsson announced his retirement Wednesday after playing 12 NHL seasons and scoring one of the biggest goals in St. Louis Blues history.

After hitting the post late in regulation in Game 2 of the 2019 Stanley Cup final against the Bruins, Gunnarsson memorably told Blues Coach Craig Berube in the bathroom at intermission, “I just need one more.” He scored 3:51 into overtime to tie the series against Boston and the Blues went on to win their first championship.

“Even coming into the locker room and the whole story with Berube, it’s kind of a blur,” Gunnarsson said in a video news conference. “But what you remember, what you’ve seen on video, it’s just a good feeling.”

It was the only goal Gunnarsson scored in 68 career NHL playoff games. Yet he doesn’t have the puck from that goal in his possession.

“I wish I did,” he said. “I couldn’t get a hold of it, so I’m not sure where it is or who’s got it right now. I tried to get a hold of it right away, but someone snagged it and I’m not sure where it is.”

Gunnarsson played 629 regular-season games for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Blues after making his NHL debut in 2009. A steady, defense-first presence on the blue line, he recorded 138 points and averaged over 18 minutes a game on the ice.

• The final report on the cause of death of former Blues defenseman Bob Plager has confirmed that he died of a “cardiac event” before crashing his SUV in March. St. Louis Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Graham revealed the final report on Tuesday, confirming his preliminary findings from shortly after Plager’s death, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The cause of death was cardiac dysrhythmia and the manner of death was listed as natural.

Plager, 78, was alone in his SUV when the crash happened on Interstate 64 near downtown St. Louis.

CANUCKS: Daniel and Henrik Sedin are returning to the Vancouver Canucks to work in the front office.

Three years after their retirement, the Swedish twins joined the Canucks’ hockey operations department with the title of special adviser to the general manager, Jim Benning.

Henrik Sedin, who served as Canucks captain from 2010 to 2018, said it was important for the brothers to have a meaningful role with the club.

“We don’t take this lightly,” he said. “We didn’t want to just come in because of our names.”

The Canucks missed the playoffs for the fifth time in six years in 2021. They finished with a 23-29-4 record for 50 points, leaving them last among the seven teams playing in Canada.

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