Islanders storm past Blues, win 4th in row

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist for the New York Islanders, who came back from two goals down to defeat the St. Louis Blues 4-2 at UBS Arena on Tuesday.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Bo Horvat, and Mathew Barzal scored, and Adam Pelech had two assists for the Islanders (27-20-14), who have won four straight. Ilya Sorokin made 18 saves.

“I liked the energy that we had, even if we were down by two goals,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “I mean, we were playing a very good game. And it was unfortunate, those two goals. So, I was very happy when we saw that mindset and the character of our guys bouncing back and scoring that third goal. It was refreshing to see that.”

Alexey Toropchenko and Jordan Kyrou scored, and Joel Hofer made 29 saves for the Blues (32-27-3), whose three-game point streak ended (2-0-1). They were coming off a 2-1 shootout win at the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday.

"They came out hard," St. Louis interim coach Drew Bannister said. "We weathered the storm as good as we could. We seemed to get our feet moving in the second part of the first period, and then we come out in the second and we're able to score two. ... We were able to regroup in the third and tried to come out and find a way to get a point or two points out of this game."

Toropchenko gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 1:21 of the second period on an odd-man rush, beating Sorokin glove side from the right face-off circle after Horvat gave the puck away inside St. Louis' blue line.

Kyrou extended the lead to 2-0 at 8:30. After Brandon Saad stripped Horvat of the puck down low, he fed Kyrou at the right post for a shot that trickled past Sorokin.

Palmieri cut it to 2-1 at 12:32. After receiving an outlet pass from Pelech down the left wing, he skated into the Blues' zone, cut toward the net and scored around Hofer’s left pad.

It was Palmieri’s fourth goal in two games. He had a hat trick and an assist in a 5-1 win against the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

Pageau tied it 2-2 at 17:47 from the top of the crease. Sebastian Aho’s point shot hit Palmieri in the slot, and the puck caromed to Pageau, who scored into an open net.

“This was a big road trip for us,” Kyrou said of St. Louis’ current five-game trip (1-1-0). “Those points, we need all of them. Tough game for us today. We need to be better in the next game. They got the lead there, and they just started playing super defensive. … We were up 2-0 in a good spot on the road, and we just let it slip away.”

Horvat gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead 55 seconds into the third period, scoring on a wraparound while falling to his knees. Hofer denied Horvat on his initial shot from inside the left face-off dot but couldn’t get over to the right post in time to stop the forward’s second effort.

“I was just trying to get speed through the neutral zone, and Brock [Nelson] made a heck of a play to get it over in the middle for me, and I was just trying to get around [Hofer] and get a shot off quick,” Horvat said. “I saw the rebound sitting there. I was trying to get around the net as quick as possible and wrap it, so thankfully it went in after that.”

Barzal scored an empty-net goal on a breakaway at 19:29 for the 4-2 final.

“Results are what matters most, especially this time of year,” Palmieri said. “So, we just want to continue building our game, working hard. We're proud of the way we're playing for each other, and we'll just continue to do that.”

NOTES: Palmieri extended his point streak to three games (four goals, three assists) and has six points (four goals, two assists) in a two-game span for the first time in his NHL career. … Barzal extended his point streak to five games (two goals, four assists). … Pageau won 10 of 13 face-offs (76.9 percent). … Hofer lost his third straight start.