The Islanders captain picked up the puck in the neutral zone, skated down the right wing, and cut around Aaron Ekblad before tucking a shot inside Sergei Bobrovsky’s right pad.

Lee’s goal came after Sam Reinhart tied it 4-4 for the Panthers with 1:58 remaining. With Bobrovsky pulled for an extra attacker, Reinhart was able to beat David Rittich blocker side through a heavy screen from inside the blue line.

Matthew Schaefer scored twice, including his 20th goal of the season, and also had an assist for the Islanders (35-21-5), who were coming off a 4-3 overtime win at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. Rittich made 29 saves.

Sam Bennett scored twice, and Matthew Tkachuk had three assists for the Panthers (30-27-3), who have lost two of three since the Olympic break and are 2-7-0 in their past nine overall. Bobrovsky made 21 saves.

Sandis Vilmanis gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 3:44 of the first period. He gloved down A.J. Greer’s pass on a 2-on-1 rush before sliding a backhand under the five-hole of Rittich from the bottom edge of the right circle.

Bennett extended the lead to 2-0 while on a power play at 14:54. He won a face-off before getting the puck back from Ekblad and beating Rittich glove side from the top of the left circle.

Schaefer cut the deficit to 2-1 at 18:01 with a one-timer from the right circle that redirected off a number of bodies before eventually deflecting off Gustav Forsling’s left leg and hitting the crossbar before banking in off the back of Bobrovsky.

Carson Soucy tied the game 2-2 at 7:28 of the second period. During 4-on-4 play, Simon Holmstrom had the puck poked off his stick in the top of the left circle, but it went right to Soucy, who quickly shot it under Bobrovsky’s glove.

Bennett scored his second goal of the game with a backhand that beat Rittich under his blocker arm to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead at 12:04.

Bo Horvat tied the game 3-3 at 17:14, scoring with a sharp-angled shot that went between Bobrovsky’s right skate and the post from deep in the left corner.

Schaefer put the Islanders in front 4-3 at 10:29 of the third period, scoring five-hole on Bobrovsky with a shot that first deflected off Evan Rodrigues.

He is the fourth rookie defenseman in NHL history to score 20 goals in a season.