ELMONT, N.Y. — The St. Louis Blues ended a four-game losing streak by holding off the New York Islanders for a 7-4 win at UBS Arena on Tuesday.
Thomas Greiss made 36 saves against his former team for St. Louis (12-14-0), which had been outscored 22-11 during the streak. Noel Acciari scored twice, and Josh Leivo had a goal and an assist.
“When you’re a player and things aren’t going well, you tend to lose your confidence,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “It’s frustrating. You want to win and you want to do well. …You just have to keep battling. You got to work your way out of things. That’s the only way. And when you work your way out of things, you got to continue to work and work and compete and play the right way to have success.”
Video: STL@NYI: O’Reilly gets the rebound and dives to score
Zach Parise and Noah Dobson each had a goal and an assist for New York (16-11-0), which has lost three of four. Ilya Sorokin made 21 saves.
“We made some uncharacteristic decisions,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. “… Uncharacteristic, and (it) cost us.”
Acciari gave the Blues a 4-1 lead at 3:37 of the third period with a redirection Justin Faulk‘s point shot.
Colton Parayko scored his first of the season 13 seconds later on a soft shot from just inside the blue line to extend it to 5-1.
“We felt good about our game,” Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “We gave up a couple grade As and they put them in. Just too big of a hole tonight, that’s what it was. But we fought until the end and gave ourselves a chance.”
Video: STL@NYI: Acciari scores for the Blues
Parise made it 5-2 at 5:36 with a power-play goal from the left circle.
Hudson Fasching cut it to 5-3 at 14:43, deflecting a shot from Matt Martin for his first goal with the Islanders. Jean-Gabriel Pageau then scored 21 seconds later when his wraparound deflected in off Robert Thomas to make it 5-4.
However, Thomas (18:03) and Acciari (18:55) each scored into an empty net for the 7-4 final.
“In the third we were a little more risky trying to get on offense,” Parise said. “That gave them some more odd-man rushes, so it’s almost like give a little, take a little.”
Video: STL@NYI: Barbashev puts the Blues ahead in the 2nd
Leivo scored his first of the season to put St. Louis ahead 1-0 at 17:13 of the first period. He shot blocker side Sorokin on a 2-on-1.
“I’ve always been a shooter,” Leivo said. “Every coach has told me to shoot the puck, so that’s what I’m doing.”
Video: STL@NYI: Parayko scores 13 seconds later
Dobson tied it 1-1 at 17:52 with a one-timer from the right hash marks.
Ivan Barbashev gave the Blues a 2-1 lead at 3:51 of the second period on another 2-on-1, and Ryan O’Reilly pushed it to 3-1 at 14:58 when he swatted in his own rebound while falling down in front.
“It’s a good bounce,” O’Reilly said. “Just whacking it and got a good bounce there, so I’ll take it.
“It’s really nice to win. It’s a feeling we haven’t had in a while. Again, made it a little too exciting at the end there, but the big thing is we won a game. There’s a lot of good things we did. tonight… there’s something to build off of there.”
NOTES: Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech left midway through the third period following a hit by the Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo. Lambert did not have an update postgame. … Greiss played with the Islanders from 2015-20. … Blues defenseman Nick Leddy, who played with the Islanders from 2014-2021, was honored with a video tribute during a stoppage in the first period. “I think they did a great job with it,” Leddy said. “Obviously, I really appreciate it.” … Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich (lower body) and defenseman Torey Krug (upper body) did not play after each was injured in a 6-4 loss to the New York Rangers on Monday. … Blues forward William Bitten had the primary assist on Barbashev’s goal for his first NHL point.
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