The New York Islanders entered the third period trailing by a goal but Johnny Boychuk and Jordan Eberle pushed them over the top in the third period for a sixth-straight win.
- New York Islanders (Matt Martin, Jordan Eberle, Johnny Boychuk, Anders Lee)
- St. Louis Blues (Brayden Schenn, Zach Samford, Ryan O’Reilly)
- NHL, Final, Box Score
- Enterprise Arena, St. Louis, MO
In a game in which they had no business pulling out on top, the Islanders did what good teams do and find a way to take two points home. Jordan Eberle tied the game, Johnny Boychuk gave them the lead, and Anders Lee sealed it up.
Heading into the third period, the Islanders were down 2-1 and were being outplayed by a significant margin when Eberle carried the puck in front and slid it past Jake Allen to knot up what seemed like a lost game.
Ryan O’Reilly pulled St. Louis to within one goal in the final minute-and-a-half of the third period, but the Blues’ comeback would end there.
A scary play at the end of the third raised concern for Lehner, who got his right leg caught on Alex Pietrangelo as he was sliding into the crease but ultimately finished the game.
Lehner went down the tunnel immediately after the final buzzer, and there is currently no update on his condition.
6⃣ STRAIGHT WINS! #YesYesYes pic.twitter.com/lqqKYawG2R
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) January 6, 2019
Each year, there seems to always be a discussion about what this year’s iteration of the Islanders does better than the previous, but for reasons already heavily discussed, this year is very different.
Barry Trotz described his team’s effort exactly as you’d expect him to, talking about how he didn’t like his team’s performance and how they dug themselves out of it:
“I didn’t think we were very good, we weren’t hard enough in our own end, not committed enough offensively……..I said listen guys, when we stink we all stink together and when we win, we all win together.”
The Islanders pulled away with their sixth-straight win, continuing the momentum they carried from December and the end of 2018. Despite only posting 14 shots on goal, the Islanders lit up Jake Allen for four goals while roasting his personal stats.
Lehner takes away a personal seventh-straight win, keeping the Islanders around the entire game and shutting the door after an impressive comeback. Even though the effort was present, Lehner’s save percentage suffered again with an unfortunate .905 — not at all indicative of the performance he gave.
As good of a game that Lehner played, the Islanders penalty kill deserves a mountain of credit as well killing off all five Blues power plays.
At long last, the Islanders not only pulled away with a big win tonight but officially find themselves occupying the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. On top of that, there are now just two points total separating the Islanders from the top of the Metropolitan division.
From here on out, the Islanders must continue rolling. Though their win streak will inevitably come at an end, it’s going to be about doing everything right and keeping the push going.
The upcoming schedule is weak, and the Islanders have at least a game in hand over all of the teams they are chasing down in the Metro.
Next stop will be Long Island, as the Islanders face the Hurricanes on Tuesday and two consecutive matchups against their rival New York Rangers.
