Recap: Islanders 5, Blues 2

The New York Islanders bounced back from Friday's loss in Dallas with an 5-2 win over the Western Conference-leading St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center on Saturday night.
"I think we knew last night wasn't close to where we need to be," captain John Tavares said. "We take a lot of pride in this room, so a great effort in a tough place to win against a team that's obviously off to a great start."

The Islanders got to work early, with Tavares breaking the ice with a walkout wrister past Jake Allen (14 saves) at 3:21. But while the offense busted out for five goals after being shut out the night before, Thomas Greiss was the backbone of the Islanders win.

Greiss made 35 saves against the Blues including a pair of momentum-shifting saves that the Islanders turned into goals on the ensuing rush. Casey Cizikas' backhand sweep wouldn't have been possible without Greiss robbing Paul Stastny on a backdoor pass just before and neither would Jordan Eberle's sixth of the season, a two-on-one rush with Andrew Ladd that started with Greiss kicking a rebound.

"That was a big turning point in the game," Head Coach Doug Weight said. "Those were key saves. Those last five minutes of the first, paired with the first five minutes of the second was huge for us."

Those weren't even Greiss' best save of the night, as the Isles goalie laid out for a highlight-reel, desperation save on a Blues' power play late in the second period, preserving what was then a 4-1 lead.

Josh Ho-Sang, who was an emergency recall on Saturday morning, one-timed an Alan Quine rebound past Allen to make it 4-0 at 3:35 of the second period. The goal ended Allen's night, as Carter Hutton (10 saves) came in relief.

Even up 4-0, the Islanders weren't in the clear. Brayden Schenn put St. Louis on the board at 11:31 of the second and the Blues kept pressing, with Jaden Schwartz putting a shot off the crossbar shortly after. Scottie Upshall made it 4-2 at 6:41 of the third period, but a nifty tip from Anders Lee off an Adam Pelech shot made it 5-2 with 4:27 to play in the third period.

With the win, the Islanders showed their ability to shake off a lopsided loss. So far this season, the Islanders have responded with a win after an ugly loss, beating Buffalo 6-3 a night after a 5-0 loss to Columbus and beating Nashville 6-2 after a 6-4 defeat in Minnesota.
The Islanders have yet to lose back-to-back games in regulation this season.
"It just starts with our leadership," Cizikas said. "That starts up top with Johnny, Clutter, Ladder, Bails and JB. Those guys lead our team and they played unbelievable tonight. They got us off to the start that we needed."

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders have four days off before returning home to play the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.