Mathew Barzal scored in overtime to complete an unlikely New York Islanders’ comeback in a 4-3 road win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
Down 3-0 midway through the second period, the Islanders scored three goals to force extra time. Barzal assisted on two of those tallies before delivering the winner 2:11 into overtime.
New York is 10-4-0 in its last 14 games, with five of those wins coming in overtime. The Islanders are 10-0-0 in games decided in overtime this season.
Calum Ritchie had a goal and an assist for the Islanders while Bo Horvat and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each contributed a goal.
Ilya Sorokin stopped 20 of 23 shots to earn his 24th win of the season.
The overtime loss ended the Blues’ four-game winning streak, though they remain on a five-game points streak (4-0-1).
Jimmy Snuggerud had a goal and two assists and Robert Thomas added two assists. Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway scored the Blues’ other goals.
Joel Hofer made a career-high 45 saves while facing 49 shots.
New York’s 49-23 shots advantage began with a 17-5 edge in the first period. Despite this pressure, Broberg recorded the game’s first goal at the 4:06 mark.
The Blues extended their lead with two quick goals in the second period. Holloway’s shot through traffic beat Sorokin at the 9:10 mark, then Snuggerud buried a shot from the slot 87 seconds later.
Thomas seemingly scored at 14:14 of the second period, but his goal was erased due to an offside call after an Islanders’ review challenge.
Avoiding the 4-0 deficit seemed to give New York momentum, beginning with Pageau’s goal 17:50 into the second period.
At 5:03 of the third period, Pavel Buchnevich was issued a double-minor penalty for a high stick on Ritchie. The Islanders capitalized with a pair of goals during the four minutes of power-play time.
Ritchie was credited with the first goal at the 5:52 mark when Blues forward Jack Finley accidentally tapped the puck into his team’s net. Exactly one minute later, Ritchie earned an assist on a slick passing play finished by Horvat for the equalizer.
