The St. Louis Blues found a way on Thursday night to recover from some familiar struggles in the third period. The New York Islanders, however, are getting more frustrated with their inability to do the same.
The Islanders are looking to end a rough stretch as they host the Blues on Saturday night in Elmont, N.Y., with St. Louis hoping to start a winning streak.
Both teams had Friday off after playing on Thursday. New York lost a third-period lead in a 2-1 defeat to the Detroit Red Wings, while St. Louis beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in a shootout.
The Islanders held a 1-0 lead for more than 38 minutes between the first and third periods on Thursday. But Jonatan Berggren tied the game with 4:46 left, and Lucas Raymond scored the game-winner with 52 seconds remaining, giving Detroit the win and handing New York its third straight loss (0-2-1).
The Islanders had a lead in the third period of all three losses and have blown a third-period lead in five of their 13 losses this season.
“It’s just not good enough,” said Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson, according to 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.”
Before Friday, the Islanders were one of six teams within three points of the Boston Bruins, who hold 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,” said Islanders right winger Kyle Palmieri.
The Blues seemed like they might face a tough defeat when the Sharks’ Alexander Wennberg scored a tying goal with just nine seconds left using an extra attacker. This 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 for the Blues just 11 seconds into the game.
St. Louis also lost third-period leads against Boston and Buffalo earlier this month, and then gave up three goals in the final period in a 4-2 loss to Minnesota on Tuesday.
The Blues were outshot 2-1 in overtime on Thursday, but Jordan Binnington stopped all three shots in the shootout. The win was Binnington’s 151st career victory for the Blues, tying Mike Liut for the franchise record.
Jake Neighbours scored on the third shootout attempt to give the Blues their fourth win in five games decided in overtime or a shootout this season.
“I thought we were great on the bench,” said Blues coach Drew Bannister. “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 most goals on the team. Palmieri leads the Islanders with 16 points. He, Anders Lee, and Brock Nelson each have seven goals, which leads New York.
