New York Islanders

Islanders Score 3 in Third, But Comeback Falls Short in 7-4 Loss to Blues

Published

1 year ago

December 6, 2022

ELMONT, NY–After seemingly on their way to a monumental third-period comeback, the New York Islanders fell 7-4 to the St. Louis Blues.

The Islanders are now 16-11-0 on the season and drop to the first Wild Card spot.

LINES:

Josh Bailey-Mat Barzal-Oliver Wahlstrom
Anders Lee-Brock Nelson-Anthony Beauvillier
Zach Parise-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Simon Holmstrom
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Hudson Fasching

Adam Pelech-Ryan Pulock
Alexander Romanov-Scott Mayfield
Sebastian Aho-Noah Dobson

Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov

Scores

Josh Leivo gave the St. Louis Blues a 1-0 lead at 17:13 of the first period as he finished a two-on-one, beating New York Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin blocker side and in for his first goal of the season. Brayden Schenn was credited with the lone assist.

Noah Dobson tied the contest at one 39 seconds later, as he rifled the puck from the low slot past the glove hand of Blues netminder Thomas Greiss for his eighth goal of the season. Mathew Barzal and Oliver Wahlstrom were credited with the assists at 17:52 of the first period.

Ivan Barbashev finished off a Blues two-on-one to give his team a 2-1 lead at 3:51 of the first period. William Bitten and Niko Mikkola were credited with the assists on Barbashev’s fourth of the season.

Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly gave his team a 3-1 lead as he buried a rebound off his initial shot for his ninth of the season. Leivo and Justin Faulk were credited with the assists at 14:58 of the second period.

Blues scored two goals in 13 seconds as they took a 5-1 lead, after goals from Noel Acciari (3:37) and Colton Parayko (3:50).

Zach Parise cut the Blues’ lead to 5-2 at 5:36 of the third as he beat Greiss inside the glove-side post for his ninth of the season. Josh Bailey and Noah Dobson were credited with the assists on Parise’s power-play goal.

Hudson Fasching scored his first goal as an Islander as he deflected a Matt Martin shot as the Islanders cut the Blues’ lead to 5-3. Martin and Brock Nelson were credited with the assists.

Hudson Fasching with the deflection for his first of the season! #Isles pic.twitter.com/vOQqN8vx7r

— Isles on MSGSN (@IslesMSGN) December 7, 2022

“It means a lot. Yo go up and down in the NHL, and it’s hard to get in a lot of rhythm when you’re playing one or two games at a time with limited minutes, and you know, I scored in my first [NHL] game. So this was the first one since then in the national league, so it means a lot, and it feels good.”

Jean-Gabriel Pageau made it a 5-4 game with 15:04 to go in the third as he banked the puck off a Blues defenseman and in for his seventh of the season. Parise was credited with the lone assist.

The Blues added two empty-net goals from Robert Thomas and Acciari as they win 7-4.

Pelech Leaves with Injury

At 4:05 of the third period, St. Louis Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo crushed New York Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech along the end boards.

Pelech stayed down for a bit, holding his head before being helped off the ice by a trainer. Once he got to the tunnel, he walked off under his own power, but he looked a bit wobbly.

He did not return.

New York Islanders head coach Lane Lambert had no update on Pelech’s status.

Nightmarish Game for Romanov-Mayfield Pairing

The St. Louis Blues scored five goals on the night, and unfortunately for the Scott Mayfield-Alexander Romanov pairing, they were on the ice for three of them, with Mayfield on the ice for four.

On the Blues first goal, Mayfield stepped into the neutral zone and got caught, leading to a Blues odd-man rush. Romanov dove to break up the pass, but Leivo beat Sorokin with the shot.

The second Blues goal came after Mayfield failed to hold the puck in the offensive zone, and Barbashev finished off a William Bitten pass.

And on the third goal, Romanov left the near post next to Sorokin to protect the front of the net, but Mathew Barzal was on the guy in front. That allowed O’Reilly the opportunity to peel front, get off a shot, and then score on the rebound.

Mayfield was also on the ice for the Blues’ fifth goal of the contest.

“Just a couple of uncharacteristic decisions ended up putting us in a little bit of a bad spot, and you know, those things happen and we will move forward,” Lambert said.

Islanders First Team to 20 Goals By Defensemen

The New York Islanders entered the night with 19 goals from a defenseman this season, which ranked first in the NHL. Noah Dobson, with his first-period dagger, gave the Islanders their 20th goal from a defenseman in game 26.