Islanders hold — and extend — a third-period lead as Kyle Palmieri scores twice in win over Blues
Islanders players celebrate with Kyle Palmieri after he scored an open net goal against the St. Louis Blues late in the third period of an NHL hockey game at UBS Arena on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
All 8-year-old Henry Schafer wanted, having completed treatments at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in Queens after battling leukemia for more than three years, was for Brock Nelson, his favorite player, to score a goal on Hockey Fights Cancer Night.
All Islanders coach Patrick Roy wanted was for his team to become “homers” and take advantage of a three-game homestand and a stretch of eight of 11 at UBS Arena.
Well, maybe not all. Holding a lead in the third period after failing to do so during the previous three games also was on the wish list.
It was a good night on all fronts as the Islanders beat the Blues, 3-1, on Saturday night.
Nelson fulfilled Schafer’s wish, relayed through an in-game interview with MSG Networks’ Shannon Hogan, scoring a power-play goal and adding two assists to move into a tie with John Tonelli for ninth place on the Islanders’ all-time point list with 544.
“After the first, Shannon said that he wanted me to score and I said, ‘I’ll do my best,’ ” Nelson said. “So fun on a night like that to go out there and do that. Shannon and I briefly talked about positive energy, a little bit of manifestation. It’s special that was a request for him and happy to deliver.”
Ilya Sorokin made nine of his 24 saves in the third period to earn his 100th career victory on his fifth try as the Islanders (8-8-5) snapped a three-game losing streak with only their fifth win in regulation.
“We wanted to win that game,” said Roy, who joked that Sorokin needed “only 500 more” to match Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur’s NHL record of 691 victories.
“It was a key game for us. I saw it this morning when I came to the rink. For the morning skate, it seemed like the guys were ready for it and wanted to have a strong night.”
The Islanders completed a 1-2-2 road trip with a brutal 2-1 loss in Detroit on Thursday night, giving up both goals in the final 4:46.
“It’s huge,” said Kyle Palmieri, who took Nelson’s feed to the slot to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 18:51 of the first period and clinched it with an empty-netter off Nelson’s assist with 35.5 seconds remaining.
“There’s no doubt in our mind that it was going to get asked but, as a group, you can’t look back at the last couple of games. You’ve got to learn from it. At the end of the day, we’re giving ourselves opportunities to win hockey games.”
The Islanders thought they had taken a 3-1 lead at 11:33 of the third period as defenseman Noah Dobson connected from the right circle. But Blues coach Drew Bannister successfully challenged that Palmieri interfered with Jordan Binnington (28 saves).
“I’ve stopped trying to figure out goalie interference,” Palmieri said. “I knew I was outside the crease. I knew I made contact with him. When it was a quick review, I figured it wasn’t going our way.”
“When that happened, it happens,” said Roy, who angrily said the Islanders were “robbed” when a goalie interference challenge went against them in a 3-2 loss in Seattle on Nov. 16. “We had to be ready for that. I thought we responded really well. We just focused on what we had to do.”
A major factor in the Islanders being unable to hold third-period leads has been their inability to extend one-goal leads.
Nelson finally provided a big second goal for the Islanders as his power-play one-timer at the crease off Max Tsyplakov’s patient feed from behind the net made it 2-0 at 15:55 of the second period.
It took the Blues only 45 seconds in the third period to halve the Islanders’ lead as rookie defenseman Isaiah George was called for cross-checking Robert Thomas 10 seconds earlier. Pavel Buchnevich found Jake Neighbours open at the post for an easy power-play score.
Notes & quotes: The Islanders won 34 of 53 faceoffs (64%), with Bo Horvat winning 12 of 15 . . . Defenseman Scott Mayfield blocked a career-high nine shots . . . Sorokin’s start snapped a string of five straight games in which Roy alternated him with Semyon Varlamov . . . Defenseman Grant Hutton and forward Hudson Fasching remained the healthy scratches.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
