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The New York Islanders fell short in their comeback against the St. Louis Blues last night, losing 7-4 at home.
Despite taking a few penalties in the first half of the opening frame, the Islanders put together a good first period. They outshot the Blues 13-6 and really limited their opportunities. However, with under three minutes to go, St. Louis came down on odd-man rush after Scott Mayfield got caught up ice and Josh Leivo was able to pick a corner with a nice shot. The Islanders came right back to tie it under a minute later though, with Mathew Barzal getting a pass across to Noah Dobson, who beat Thomas Greiss to tie the game through 20 minutes.
The Blues took back the lead early in the second period though, with Mayfield unable to keep the puck in at the offensive line once again leading to another 2-on-1, resulting in Ivan Barabshev taking a pass from William Bitten to beat Sorokin. Despite the Islanders putting together another decent frame, the Blues ended up extending the lead with about five minutes remaining in the frame, with Ryan O’Reilly battling in front to bury a loose puck on a second effort, making it a 3-1 game.
Then came the third period, which couldn’t have started much worse for New York. They gave up two quick goals, with Noel Acciari tipping a shot in front and then Colton Parayko beating Sorokin from long-range on a pretty brutal goal, just 13 seconds after Acciari had made it 4-1. Then afterwards, Adam Pelech took a big hit and his head went into the boards. He ended up leaving the game and was stumbling getting off the ice.
Zach Parise did get one back off a nice shot coming down the wing soon after though, to cut the lead down to three goals. Then after the Islanders were generating some shots, Matt Martin just threw the puck on net with about five minutes to go, and it was tipped in by Hudson Fasching, giving the Islanders some life. Just as New York pulled the goalie (very early) right after Fasching’s goal, Jean-Gabriel Pageau then wrapped the puck around and banked it in off Robert Thomas in front only 21 seconds later, making it a one-goal game.
However, as the Islanders pressed later, Ryan Pulock turned the puck over on a soft pass at the offensive line, with Robert Thomas burying an empty netter. Then after trying again, Noel Acciari buried another empty netter, securing a 7-4 Blues win.
I hesitate to say this was a poor effort from the Islanders. They were in the game despite being down 3-1, and were arguably the better team through the first 40 minutes. However, the two quick goals in the third period sunk them and while it was a good attempt to get back into the game, getting down by that large of a margin in the third period is a massive hole to climb out of.
There’s also been no update on Adam Pelech yet but the injury was obviously concerning. For the player, hopefully it’s nothing serious and he’s feeling alright and for the team, it would be a huge blow if Pelech missed extended time.
It seems like a bit of a missed opportunity for the Islanders, with the Blues on the second half of a road back-to-back. That said, New York did reach 40 shots on goal for the third game in a row, which is really positive to see.
With Noah Dobson’s goal, he also sits tied for second in goals amongst all NHL defensemen this season. He doesn’t necessarily have the most powerful shot, but he has excellent accuracy to pick corners through traffic from the point and is able to get into good spots to take a pass.
Hudson Fasching also scored his first goal with the Islanders last night, playing only his second game with the team. So far, he seems like the better option to use on the fourth line ahead of Ross Johnston.
The Islanders now face a pretty big challenge, after losing three of their last four games. They’re about to play six of their next seven games on the road and of those next seven games, they face a lot of really good teams in the New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes, Boston Bruins, Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche.
Their next game comes on Friday, as they face the Devils in the first half of a back-to-back set.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM DECEMBER
Islanders’ four-game winning streak snapped in rematch against Flyers
Islanders fire 49 shots on goal but fall short against Predators
Islanders score three in second period, earn shutout win over Blackhawks 
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