Takeaways: Barzal Buries an Overtime Winner in 4-3 OT Victory Over Blues

Mathew Barzal (1G, 2A) capped off a comeback for the New York Islanders with his seventh career overtime winner at the 2:11 mark of the extra frame in a 4-3 OT win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night at Enterprise Center.

Cal Ritchie (1G, 1A), JG Pageau, Bo Horvat (PPG) scored for the Islanders in regulation to erase a 3-0 deficit after Jimmy Snuggerud (1G, 1A) Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway scored for the Blues.

The Islanders recorded a season-high 49 shots in the win and limited the Blues to 23 shots on goal. Ilya Sorokin made 20 saves in the win while Joel Hofer stopped 46 of 49 shots in the overtime loss.

The Islanders (79 points) are in third place in the Metropolitan Division, pulling even in points with the second place Pittsburgh Penguins (79 points) who have a game in hand. Pittsburgh picked up a point in a 5-4 SO loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Columbus Blue Jackets (76 points) beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 to remain three points back with a game in hand.

The Islanders are 5-2-0 after the Olympic break, with four of those wins on the road.

“Winning four out of those six games, that puts you in the playoffs at that rate,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “This was an important game. Winning that one makes a big difference because every team in our division got a point today.”

The Islanders finished their four-game road trip with a 2-2-0 split.

“It could have been 1-3-0 which would’ve been ugly,” Barzal said. “So to finish 2-2-0 is a pretty successful road trip.”

TAKEAWAYS

- Barzal’s overtime goal was the fourth unanswered goal for the Islanders, as they clawed their way out of a 3-0 hole. His goal also lifted the Islanders to a perfect 10-0 record in OT, which made the Islanders the first team in NHL history to go 10-0 in the extra frame. Barzal scored in style, going one-on-one with Jordan Kyrou, before cutting to the middle and roofing a shot past Joel Hofer.

“That was a phenomenal goal,” Roy said of Barzal’s OT winner. “What a move he had there, and the quality of the shot.

- The win started with a “great call by the Islanders video team,” according to Roy, as they successfully won an offside challenge on a St. Louis score that would have put the Islanders down 4-0. Instead, the Islanders remained down 3-0 and began to chip away, getting on the board with Pageau’s 15th goal of the season. He cleaned up a Matthew Schaefer rebound at the side of the crease with 2:10 left in the second period.

“Sometimes you get a bounce that can turn a game, but obviously that offsides call was massive,” Barzal said. “It kept us in the hockey game and we found a way.”

- The Islanders caught another bounce in the form of a four-minute power play, as Ritchie drew a double minor for high sticking early in the third period. With the man advantage, Ritchie was the last Islander to touch the puck before Jeff Finley tapped the puck into his own net, bringing the Isles within one at the 5:52 mark of the third period. The Isles wasted no time tying up the score, as Horvat converted on the power play 60 seconds after Ritchie’s tally to knot the score at three apiece. The Islanders power play, which went 2-for-4, was key in the win.

“We spent some serious time yesterday [talking as a group] that the power play clicking is going to be the reason why we get into the playoffs and go on a run,” Barzal said. “Any team that’s ever won, or goes deep, that’s a big key.”

- The Islanders were aggressive early in the game as Anders Lee had a grade-A chance at net-front and Simon Holmstrom was denied on a breakaway opportunity, but the Islanders found themselves down in a 3-0 hole in the first 30 minutes of the game. The Blues kicked off the scoring when Snuggerud set up Broberg with a feed by the right side of the crease for him to deposit the first goal of the game at the 4:06 mark of the first period. Cam Fowler made a pass to Holloway, who ripped a shot in from the right dot to make it 2-0 at the 9:10 mark of the middle frame. Snuggerud scored from the slot 1:27 later to take a 3-0 lead.

- Tuesday night was special for Brayden Schenn, who played his first game against his former team, just four days after being traded to the Islanders. The Blues’ former captain was a starter and took the game’s first faceoff, recorded the first shot on goal which was denied by Hofer’s stick, and got a warm welcome from Blues fans. Schenn’s tribute video on the jumbotron featured clips from his Stanely Cup win in 2019, his impact in the community through charity efforts, and a look-back at his 1,000th game ceremony. Every player on both benches stood and gave stick taps as Schenn saluted the fans.

“It’s been a long time since I played a homecoming game, and this one happened so fast and with a lot of emotion,” Schenn said. “One thing I will say about this group and this team, these guys made me feel part of it right away.”

NEXT GAME

The Islanders return home to take on the Los Angeles Kings on Friday in the first half of a back-to-back set. Puck drop at UBS Arena is set for 7PM.