Islanders edge Blues to extend streak

NEW YORK -- Anders Lee scored two goals, including the game-winner with 7:18 remaining, to help the New York Islanders to a 3-2 victory against the St. Louis Blues at Barclays Center on Thursday.
Lee, who has seven goals in his past eight games, broke a 2-2 tie with a slap shot from below the left circle after Casey Cizikas won a faceoff in the offensive zone.
John Tavares scored and Thomas Greiss made 24 saves for New York (11-10-5), which extended its point streak to six games (5-0-1).
"We needed everyone to kind of step up five, six games ago," Lee said. "I think we've all done with a collective effort. I think that's what makes this little run special, they've been all team wins. To be a part of it, it's obviously a lot of fun."

WATCH: All Blues vs. Islanders highlights
Robby Fabbri and Kyle Brodziak scored and Jake Allen made 24 saves for St. Louis (15-8-4), which saw its five-game point streak end. Allen had won eight straight starts.
"You play 40 good minutes, and obviously six or eight good minutes in the third," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We just need more. We need more from people; top-end guys we need more from. You can't just keep relying on guys like Fabbri and [Jaden] Schwartz to carry the day. We need more from other people there, it's just the bottom line."
Fabbri gave the Blues a 1-0 lead 4:36 into the game. Vladimir Tarasenko skated past Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy up the right wing and drove hard to the net before Fabbri collected the puck and put it past Greiss for his sixth goal.
Lee tied it with a power-play goal at 6:51 of the first period when he redirected Leddy's shot from the point past Allen for his sixth goal. Tavares put New York ahead 2:40 later when he put a wrist shot past Allen from the slot.

The Blues tied it when Brodziak took a pass from Fabbri and beat Greiss with a wrist shot from the left circle to make it 2-2 at 3:33 of the second period.
"We just left the game to chance," Brodziak said. "We didn't really do enough to really gain control of the game. That's what happens. They're a team that's playing well and they're playing with confidence. They were out to make a play and score a goal, so we've just got to find a way to gain control of the game earlier on and not make it 50-50 like that."

Goal of the game

On a remarkable individual effort, Tavares stripped Jay Bouwmeester of the puck near the blue line, drove towards the slot and spun away from Bouwmeester before sending a wrist shot past Allen to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 9:31 of the first period.
"I'm just trying to cause some pressure, cause a turnover, and I was able to get the puck," Tavares said. "You just try to be strong on it and make a play. I ended up being in the slot, I had some time, so I tried to shoot for his blocker side. It kind of hit something and went in. I just want to keep contributing."

Save of the game

Greiss made sure the Islanders took a one-goal lead into the first intermission when he robbed Paul Stastny late in the period on a wrist shot from point-blank range.

Highlight of the game

With the game tied 2-2 in the third period, Cizikas managed to win a faceoff against Statsny in the Blues zone, allowing Lee to get off a clean shot from the bottom of the left circle for the game-winning goal.

Unsung performance of the game

Defenseman Calvin de Haan led the Islanders with four blocked shots. He had 69 entering the game, the third-most in the NHL.

They said it

"When the belief starts to waver, that's when you're really flirting with disaster. Losing a bunch of games gives you a little shred of doubt at times, and you saw that in a couple of games we lost late. I think there was just a little too much doubt that crept into our game, and it translated into not lack of effort, but lack of confidence in things we were doing. We just got back to being confident in what we're doing." -- Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck
"To me, it's about accountability. We as coaches can hold the players accountable, but I think amongst the group when you do that, you start to build something." -- Islanders coach Jack Capuano

Need to know

Fabbri, who went the first 12 games without a goal, has six in the past 14. … The Islanders were not in a shorthanded situation for the second time this week; they also did not have to kill a penalty during a 4-3 overtime loss against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday.

What's next

Blues: At the New Jersey Devils on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; MSG, FS-MW, NHL.TV)
Islanders: At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, MSG+, NHL.TV)