UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- The expansion Atlanta Thrashers feel more at home at Nassau Coliseum than the New York Islanders.

Mike Stapleton scored his second goal of the game with just 30.7 seconds left to give Atlanta a 4-3 road victory Saturday night over the New York Islanders.

Atlanta has as many wins on Long Island as the Islanders, who have the fewest points in the NHL with 15.

"I wish we could just play here and against Tampa Bay," forward Denny Lambert said. Atlanta is 2-0-1 against the Lightning.

The Thrashers, who won consecutive games for the first time, have only two road victories and both have come against the Islanders.

"We take home-ice advantage for granted," defenseman Jamie Heward said of the Islanders who have lost eight of 11 home games. "We go on the road, we know we've got to play well or it's over before it gets started."

Stapleton's stunning game-winner came as he carried the puck into the Islanders zone and beat Felix Potvin with a slap shot high past the goalie's blocker.

"I don't know how I got the puck up the middle," Stapleton said. "I just got it and shot it and it went in."

The Islanders tied it 3-3 in the final period on Mariusz Czerkawski's power-play goal at 10:07. Heward fed the puck to Czerkawski in the right circle, whose shot deflected into the net for his ninth of the season.

With just over two minutes remaining, Norm Maracle, who stopped 34 shots, kept the game tied when he made a stick save on Czerkawski, who came in on a partial breakaway.

"The only positive you can see is that it can't get any worse," Islanders captain Kenny Jonsson said. "We have to bounce back at home. We're almost .500 on the road (4-6-2). Home games have been killing us."

The Islanders were 2-for-3 with the man advantage after not scoring a power-play goal in their previous four games.

Atlanta took a 3-2 lead 3:44 into the third on Lambert's third of the season.

Maracle earned his second win in two nights after returning from an ankle injury. He stopped 25 shots Friday night in Atlanta's 2-1 victory over Florida, his first game since Oct. 17.

"The guys have been jelling," Maracle said. "They played a great game tonight. A game like this proves that we're for real."

Heward doesn't agree.

"It's disappointing to lose to that club when we know we can beat them," he said.

The Thrashers took a two-goal lead in the first period, only to see the Islanders tie it with two in the second.

"We played a great first period, and then I let in two easy goals," Maracle said. "At least we got the win."

Dean Sylvester gave Atlanta the lead when he scored his fourth goal at 10:22. Patrik Stefan won a faceoff back to Sylvester, who got a shot between Potvin's legs.

With Claude Lapointe in the penalty box, Stapleton scored his second of the season to make it 2-0 with 14.4 seconds left in the period.

The Islanders cut it to 2-1 at 11:55 of the second when Josh Green carried into the left circle and sent a shot that bounced off Maracle into the net. Brothers Jorgen and Kenny Jonsson had the assists on Green's third goal.

It was the first goal for the Islanders in 119:41, dating back two games to Wednesday's loss against Dallas.

New York tied the game 2-2 when Brad Isbister scored on the power play with 5:39 left in the second.

The goal snapped the Thrashers' streak of 19 straight penalty kills.