The St. Louis Blues figured out a way Thursday night to recover from some familiar third-period doldrums. The New York Islanders are growing increasingly frustrated with their inability to do the same thing.
The Islanders strive to snap a discouraging skid as the visiting Blues aim to build a winning streak when the teams meet Saturday night in Elmont, N.Y.
Both teams were off Friday after playing Thursday. New York squandered a third-period lead in a 2-1 loss to the host Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis outlasted the visiting San Jose Sharks, 3-2, in a shootout.
The Islanders nursed a 1-0 lead for more than 38 minutes between the first and third periods Thursday. But Jonatan Berggren tied the score with 4:46 left and Lucas Raymond collected the game-winner with 52 seconds remaining as the Red Wings handed New York its third straight loss (0-2-1).
The Islanders led in the third period of all three defeats and have squandered a third-period lead in five of its 13 losses this season.
“It’s just not good enough,” Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson said, per Newsday. “We’ve got to find a way to close it out. We definitely can’t afford to not even get a point out of it.”
The Islanders entered Friday as one of six teams within three points of the Boston Bruins, who occupy the second wild-card spot with 21 points.
“We have to figure out a way to execute under the kind of pressure that protecting a late lead requires,” Islanders right winger Kyle Palmieri said.
The Blues appeared as if they might be headed for a similarly difficult defeat when the Sharks’ Alexander Wennberg tied the score on an extra-attacker goal with nine seconds left. That came after Jordan Kyrou gave St. Louis a 2-1 lead with his sixth goal of the season 11:47 into the second period.
“That’s hockey, they’ve got six guys on the ice trying to put the puck in the net, so things are going to happen,” said center Nathan Walker, who scored 11 seconds into the game for the Blues.
St. Louis also squandered third-period leads against Boston and Buffalo earlier this month before giving up three goals in the final period against Minnesota in a 4-2 loss Tuesday.
The Blues were outshot 2-1 in overtime on Thursday before Jordan Binnington stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout. The win was Binnington’s 151st for the Blues, tying Mike Liut for the franchise record.
Jake Neighbours scored on the third shot of the shootout to give the Blues their fourth victory in five games decided in overtime or beyond this season.
“I thought we were great on the bench,” Blues coach Drew Bannister said. “Their focus was on getting the two points and not what had just happened. That’s a step in the right direction for us right now moving forward.”
Kyrou leads St. Louis with 18 points and is tied with Neighbours for the team lead in goals. Palmieri paces the Islanders with 16 points. He, Anders Lee and Brock Nelson each have seven goals to lead New York.
–Field Level Media
