Bo Horvat scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the New York Islanders won their fourth straight game, 4-2 over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.

Kyle Palmieri, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Mathew Barzal also scored for the Islanders who moved within four points of the Philadelphia Flyers for the third spot in the Metropolitan Division, which would guarantee them a spot in the playoffs.

Ilya Sorokin finished with 19 saves and improved to 5-1 since the 6-5 overtime loss to the Rangers in the Stadium Series game at MetLife Stadium on Feb. 18.

Horvat broke a 2-2 tie with an incredible individual effort as he moved around Blues defenseman Nick Leddy, corralled his own rebound and buried a wraparound to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead 55 seconds into the third period.

“I knew I could trust him, I knew he was playing heavy in that third period,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said of Horvat. “He was on a mission, he wanted to give it back to his teammates, win the game and be a difference maker and that’s exactly what he did in that third period.”

Barzal added an empty-net goal in the final minute.

Alexey Toropchenko and Jordan Kyrou scored for the Blues, who had won their last two games. Rookie goaltender Joel Hofer made 29 saves.

“Tough game for us today,” Kyrou said. “We need to be better next game.”

Prior to Horvat’s tally, the Islanders scored twice within 5:15 in the second period to erase a two-goal deficit.

Palmieri converted a skillful forehand-backhand maneuver to get the Islanders on the board at 12:32. The forward had a natural hat trick in the first period of the Islanders 5-1 win against the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

“We have really good communication on and off the ice,” Pageau said of the chemistry on the newly formed line consisting of Palmieri and Anders Lee. “When three guys are on the same page, play the same way, have the same mindset and the same ideas I feel like things could work really well and it’s been clicking.”

The Islanders knotted the game at 2-all when Pageau pounced on a loose puck in the slot area at 17:47.

“I thought we were doing a lot of good things out there but those first two goals were definitely my fault,” Horvat said. “My teammates stepped up big there. Pageau, Palmieri and that line were unbelievable tonight against that top line. They had our backs, definitely had mine and I’m thankful for that.”

Toropchenko fired a wrist shot past Sorokin for his 11th goal of the season at 1:21 of the second period to open the scoring.

St. Louis doubled its advantage when Brandon Saad stole a puck from Horvat and slid it over to Kyrou for an easy tap-in.

“Obviously not the result we wanted but just try to regroup,” Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said. “Points for us are super important, we just have to look forward now. Obviously, take the things that we can from this game and look forward to Jersey.”

UP NEXT

Blues: Visit New Jersey Devils Thursday night.

Islanders: Visit San Jose Sharks Thursday night.

Kyle Palmieri scored three times in the first period for his third career hat trick and the New York Islanders coasted to a 5-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night for their third straight win.

Palmieri, who completed the natural hat trick just 12:19 in, had his first three-goal game with the Islanders and added an assist. Anders Lee had a goal and an assist, Brock Nelson also scored, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Bo Horvat each added two assists and Ilya Sorokin finished with 24 saves.

Marc McLaughlin scored the lone goal for Boston and Linus Ullmark made 22 saves as the Bruins fell for the fourth time in five games (1-1-3).

The Islanders took a 1-0 lead when Noah Dobson delivered a beautiful stretch pass to Palmieri, who spun around Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei before sliding the puck between Ullmark’s legs at 3:32.

Palmieri made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 5:27. Bo Horvat’s one-time shot from the slot created a rebound opportunity that the 33-year-old Palmieri capitalized on. Mathew Barzal also assisted.

The Long Island native capped his hat trick when he buried another rebound in the slot. Palmieri left during the second period after taking a check from Parker Wotherspoon, but returned.

Lee extended the Islanders’ lead to 4-0 on the first shift of the second period with was his 16th of the season. It was only the Islanders captain’s third goal since a scoring twice against Winnipeg on Jan. 16.

Nelson put home his own rebound and collected his 28th of the season at 10:24 to make it 5-0.

McLaughlin netted his first goal of the season and spoiled Sorokin’s shutout bid at 14:30 of the second.

UP NEXT

Bruins: Visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night.

Islanders: Host the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.

Mathew Barzal had a tiebreaking goal with 6:02 left in the third period and Brock Nelson scored twice, lifting New York to a 5-3 victory Thursday night that ended the Detroit Red Wings’ six-game winning streak.

The Islanders have entered the final period with the lead 26 times this season, and have lost seven of those games.

“Everyone makes a big deal of letting leads go, but it happens when you have leads,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “A one-goal in this league is nothing. Even a two-goal lead in this league is nothing.”

Barzal sent a shot behind goaltender Alex Lyon and banked it into the net to make it 4-3. Patrick Kane had a chance to tie it later in the third, but missed an open net.

In the final minute, Pierre Engvall scored the Islanders’ first empty-net goal of the season.

“It’s been tough just having to grind out those last 30 seconds and not being able to get that exclamation point on a game,” Barzal said.

Nelson broke a scoreless tie midway through the first period and Casey Cizikas scored in the first period to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead.

“When the first goal is a turnover from getting your stick lifted in the slot, we’re not engaged and locked in enough,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde lamented.

Nelson’s second goal broke a tie early in the third period, giving him a team-leading 27 goals, and Ilya Sorokin finished with 23 saves.

Olli Maatta matched a career high with two goals and Kane tied it at 2 on a slick wrist shot 10 seconds into the third.

Lyon stopped 22 shots for the Red Wings, who lost for the first time in two-plus weeks.

Detroit had won six straight for the first time in nearly five years, putting it in the Eastern Conference’s first of two wild-card spots to increase the franchise’s chances of making the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

“This is a good idea of what a playoff game is going to look like,” 35-year-old forward David Perron said. “Even in the six-game winning streak, there were some games where we weren’t fully satisfied. We need to add a little bit of consistency of the winning habits we have.”

The Islanders are 6-5-3 since firing Lane Lambert and hiring Roy to linger in the playoff race as one of four teams — joining New Jersey, Washington and Pittsburgh — within 10 points of Detroit and Tampa Bay in the wild-card standings.

New York lost a lead late in the second period of its previous game at Dallas before winning 3-2 in overtime.

“It’s a good road trip,” Roy said. “Dallas is not an easy place to play, and here same thing. They’re fast teams. They move the puck well. I think we can build on that. Now, we’re going home.

“Let’s give our fans some wins. I think they deserve it. They’ve been very patient with us.”

UP NEXT

Islanders: Host Boston on Saturday night.

Red Wings: Host Florida on Saturday.

Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists and the Tampa Bay Lightning snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Kucherov leads the NHL with 98 points (37 goals and 61 assists).

Nicholas Paul, Brayden Point and Luke Glendening also scored for the Lightning. Victor Hedman had two assists and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves as Tampa Bay opened a three-game trip in the Northeast that includes stops in New Jersey and Philadelphia.

Anders Lee and Brock Nelson scored for the Islanders, who lost for the fifth time in six games. Defenseman Noah Dobson added two assists. Ilya Sorokin finished with 18 saves.

New York is 4-5-3 since Patrick Roy took over behind the bench, replacing coach Lane Lambert on Jan. 20.

Kucherov extended the Lightning lead to two goals, scoring his team-best 37th at 5:34 of the opening period. Tampa Bay moved the puck around the offensive zone with ease before Kucherov sent a one-timer past Sorokin.

Just 1:22 earlier, Paul opened the scoring for Tampa Bay. Paul’s 16th of the season came moments after a Lightning power play expired early in the first period. Sorokin handled a shot by Brando Hagel’ from the circle, but Paul scored on the rebound.

Point scored his 29th of the season with a man advantage, capitalizing on the Islanders’ league-worst penalty kill five minutes into the middle frame.

Lee scored at 13:44 of the third period to spoil Vasilevksiy’s shutout bid and Nelson scored on the power play, pulling the Islanders within a goal at 17:25. Roy elected to pull Sorokin in favor of the extra attacker and New York capitalized on the 6-on-4 advantage.

Hedman and Lightning coach Jon Cooper were visibly upset at the delay-of-game penalty that led to the Islanders’ power play.

Glendening scored into an empty net in the final minute.

seal the victory for Tampa Bay. Kucherov picked up his second assist, adding to his league-leading total of 98 points.

Islanders forward Casey Cizikas returned to the lineup after a one-game absence and defenseman Scott Mayfield did not play due to a lower-body injury.

UP NEXT:

Lightning: At New Jersey on Sunday.

Islanders: At Dallas Stars on Monday.

Pavel Buchnevich and Brandon Saad combined for three goals in a 32-second span in the second period, sending the Blues to a 4-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

Buchnevich also scored midway through the third, finishing his fourth career hat trick. Robert Thomas had three assists, and Jordan Kyrou had two.

“We got the two points and that’s important,” Buchnevich said. “Anybody can score. Good for your own confidence.”

Jordan Binnington made 38 saves to earn career win No. 137, moving him into a tie with Curtis Joseph for third on the franchise wins list. It was Binnington’s third shutout of the season and No. 15 for his career.

“It’s one day at a time,” Binnington said. “This league is too hard to get too high. I’ve experienced that. Just got to stay with it and just have that passion every day and remember what you’re working for.”

The Blues had dropped two in a row and three of four overall.

Semyon Varlamov made 21 saves for the Islanders, who fell to 1-2-2 in their last five games.

“Do I feel good because we kept fighting out there?” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “Yes, I do. But I mean, there’s one thing we’re going to have is we’re going to have to stop shooting in our own foot, night after night. I mean, we played well enough to win tonight. There’s no doubt in my mind, but I mean, we’re making critical mistakes at the wrong time.”

St. Louis grabbed control with its scoring outburst in the second. It was the fastest three goals in franchise history, surpassing the previous best of 36 seconds against Tampa Bay on April 15, 1993.

Saad scored a power-play goal at 4:38 for his 16th on the season. Buchnevich then got the next two at 4:45 and 5:10 for the fastest two goals by a Blues player since Pavol Demitra in 25 seconds on Nov. 11, 2000.

“It happened pretty quick,” said Thomas, who assisted on all three of Buchnevich’s goals. “I think it’s going to be a tough record to beat. That was pretty special.”

Buchnevich scored his 22nd goal on an empty-netter 9:21 into the third, after New York pulled Varlamov for an extra skater during a two-minute stretch of 4-on-4 following coincidental minors.

“I think the whole line was contributing to that, but it’s good to see him get some bounces,” Binnington said of Buchnevich. “He’s a happy guy, so it’s fun.”

Binnington showed a quick glove on a point-blank chance for Mathew Barzal late in the third. Barzal had his season-long point streak snapped at eight games.

“Binner was outstanding,” Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. “We made it way more difficult on him and ourselves than it needed to be. He played outstanding.”

Each team killed off a pair of power plays in the first. Kyle Palmieri nearly gave the Islanders the lead when his shot during the second man advantage caromed off the post and skirted across the goal line.

Binnington made a save on an Anders Lee breakaway a minute into the second period.

“You’re going to have nights like that where you’re playing really good hockey and you can’t find a way to get one, but at the same time we had to find three and I think that’s the bigger picture here tonight is we failed to get out of that minute,” Lee said of the Blues’ scoring outburst. “So, you know, our line went out there and didn’t get it done and had two against us in crucial moments. So that’s the part that’s frustrating that we didn’t execute that.”

Zack Bolduc made his NHL debut for St. Louis, playing almost 10 minutes. The forward was selected by the Blues with the No. 17 pick in the 2021 draft.

UP NEXT

Islanders: Host Tampa Bay on Saturday.

Blues: Travel to Detroit on Saturday.

Adam Pelech found himself in an unusual position: on the ice in overtime, with plenty of room to work.

The New York Islanders defenseman didn’t let it go to waste, beating Alex Nedeljkovic with a wrist shot from the slot 57 seconds into the extra period to give New York a 5-4 win over the skidding Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.

Pelech hadn’t scored since last April but didn’t hesitate when Pittsburgh stars Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang opted not to challenge Pelech as he entered the zone. The nine-year veteran responded with a hard, low shot that beat Nedeljkovic over his right pad.

“Their (players) were kind of standing still,” Pelech said. “So I had lots of time. So I just fired it.”

Pelech’s 26th career goal in 473 career games helped the Islanders escape with two valuable points after Pittsburgh’s Valtteri Puustinen and Drew O’Connor scored 54 seconds apart in the third period to pull the Penguins even.

New York moved within four points of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference after improving to 4-3-3 since Patrick Roy replaced Lane Lambert as head coach a month ago. It also allowed the Islanders to recover after letting a three-goal lead slip away in a loss to the rival New York Rangers in a Stadium Series game over the weekend.

“It’s a huge win,” Pelech said. “I think, looking at the standings this time of year, we kind of have to put together a streak here. It’s the only way we’re going to make up ground.”

Brock Nelson scored his 24th goal of the season for New York. Mathew Barzal, Simon Holmstrom and Mike Reilly also scored for the Islanders. Ilya Sorokin, beaten soundly in his first two games against Pittsburgh this season, stopped 37 shots.

Marcus Pettersson scored his third goal of the season for Pittsburgh. Lars Eller added his 10th for the Penguins. Nedeljkovic made 28 saves but couldn’t get a handle on Pelech’s winner.

“We played good the whole night, we deserved two points,” Nedeljkovic said. “We deserved to win in regulation and I … just kind of dropped the ball for us tonight.”

Erik Karlsson became the 19th defenseman in NHL history to reach 800 career points when he recorded the secondary assist on Pettersson’s one-timer from the right circle late in the first period.

The Penguins are 1-4-1 in their last six and are struggling to stay on the fringe of the playoff picture thanks in large part to a power play that for all of its star power can’t seem to generate much offense.

Pittsburgh went 0 for 3 against the NHL’s worst penalty kill, and a sequence that set up Barzal’s goal served as a microcosm of its season.

The Penguins passed the puck around the perimeter for almost the entirety of the two minutes rather than putting it on the net and New York managed to clear the puck just as Barzal emerged from the box. The winger raced in and beat Nedeljkovic over his glove to put the Islanders in front 2-1. Holmstrom pushed the lead to 3-1 later in the period when he jammed a wraparound by Nedeljkovic 13:15 into the second.

Eller’s goal pulled the Penguins within one but when Reilly beat Nedeljkovic 10:42 into the third, it appeared Pittsburgh — which had scored four goals just once since Jan. 11 before Tuesday — was in trouble.

The Penguins, playing without second-leading scorer Jake Guentzel who is out for a month with an upper-body injury, responded in a way they rarely have of late with arguably their best period in weeks to force overtime.

“It was a good pushback,” Crosby said. “Not the ideal situation to be in, but we battled hard and got it even … (we’ll) take the point and move on. We need points so we got one. We’ve got to continue to grab them.”

UP NEXT

Islanders: Travel to St. Louis on Thursday.

Penguins: Host Montreal on Thursday.

Dressed in blue NYPD and red FDNY sweaters, the Rangers rode up to the stadium on fire trucks behind old-timey police cars.

The players then walked into the stadium alongside members of the NYPD and FDNY hockey teams who were dressed in their service uniforms.

“I’m not sure whose idea it was, but I thought it came together great,” Rangers forward Barclay Goodrow said Sunday of the entrance. “It was great meeting those guys. Obviously, we all know what they do for our community and it was great to share that moment with them.”

An honor to share this moment with you, @NYPDnews and @FDNY. pic.twitter.com/B1FJVehADj

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 18, 2024

The Islanders, too, showed up to MetLife in police cars and fire trucks from different Long Island departments. Those included stations in East Meadow, Commack and Greenlawn.

Islanders players did not don special sweaters to walk into the stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., and instead wore suits.

“I want to say thank you to the policemen and the fire department for supporting us in this event,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said before Sunday’s game. “I think the players are very thrilled about this.”

The Rangers won, 6-5, in overtime, coming all the way back in a game they trailed 4-1 in the second period.

The win marked a season-high seventh in a row for the Rangers, who sit atop the Metropolitan Division at 36-16-3. The Islanders, meanwhile, lost their third in a row and fell to 22-18-14, good for fifth in the division.

The Rangers improved to 5-0 all-time in outdoor games, with one of the previous matchups coming in 2014 against the Islanders at Yankee Stadium. That 2-1 Rangers win marked the Islanders’ lone outdoor regular season game before Sunday’s. Neither team had played previously at MetLife Stadium.

Sunday’s game was the second of this weekend’s Stadium Series. The Devils beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-3, on Saturday at MetLife.

Tomas Tatar scored the lone goal in a shootout and the Seattle Kraken beat the New York Islanders 2-1 on Tuesday night.

Matty Beniers scored in regulation, Philipp Grubauer made 26 saves and the Kraken snapped a three-game losing streak.

Kyle Palmieri scored and Ilya Sorokin stopped 29 shots in New York’s second consecutive defeat.

Tatar used a series of dekes and a forehand shot to beat Sorokin. Islanders forwards Oliver Wahlstrom, Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal were all denied in the shootout.

“I kind of panicked, to be honest,” Tatar said about his shootout move. “I had one move in my head and I was looking for a spot, it wouldn’t get open and I had to switch it last second. Glad it worked out but like I said, it was more of a panic move.”

The Islanders were whistled for tripping in the offensive zone and Palmieri was sent to the penalty box at 3:11 of overtime. Jayden Schwartz negated the power play when he was penalized for slashing at 4:28.

Palmieri scored a power-play goal to even it 1-all at 14:37 of the second period. Barzal found his teammate all alone at the top of the crease and Palmieri extended his point streak to a career-high six games. New York defenseman Noah Dobson also assisted.

Sorokin stopped Brandon Tanev on a short-handed breakaway moments before Palmieri tied the game.

“I don’t think any one of us could be happy about this performance,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “We missed that opportunity. There was no excuse for not playing a better hockey game than what we did.”

Beniers gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead at 5:27 of the opening period when he beat Sorokin on the blocker side. Jared McCann got the primary assist.

“I don’t think our battle level and compete were there the past few nights,” Beniers said. “That’s been our identity since the beginning. The big emphasis on tonight was, we’re not going to get outworked, we’re not going to get outbattled.”

Grubauer started his first game since Dec. 9. The Seattle netminder sustained a lower-body injury against Minnesota and was activated off injured reserve earlier this week. He dressed as the backup the past few games.

“Really solid tonight,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said of his goaltender. “He did a nice job, being real settled, calm in net. First 10-15 minutes of the hockey game, guys did a nice job in front of him, allowed him to see some shots. … That’s a nice win for him coming back.”

STADIUM SERIES LEGACY PROJECT

The Islanders, Islanders Children’s Foundation and NHL announced a multiyear commitment to various forms of adaptive hockey. The Special Olympics New York, Long Island Rough Riders (sled hockey) and Long Island Blues (special hockey) received funding, with the latter two organizations also getting ice time at The Park at UBS Arena.

UP NEXT

Kraken: Complete a four-game trip Thursday against Boston.

Islanders: Host the rival New York Rangers outdoors Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey as part of the 2024 Stadium Series.

MacKenzie Weegar recorded his first career hat trick and led the Calgary Flames to a 5-2 win against the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Blake Coleman also scored to help Calgary extend its season-high winning streak to four games. Jacob Markstrom finished with 35 saves and also registered an assist in the third game of a four-game road trip to begin the second half of the season following the NHL All-Star break.

Semyon Varlamov made 19 saves in his 600th NHL appearance but the Islanders brief two-game winning streak was snapped. Brock Nelson and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored New York.

Weegar opened the scoring with a soft wrist shot from the right faceoff circle that sailed past the blocker of Varlamov at 3:47 of the first period.

The 30-year-old defenseman scored his second of the night to give Calgary a 3-0 lead at 15:16 of the second period. The Islanders lost track of Weegar and he blasted an uncontested one-timer from the high slot. Jakob Pelletier and Walker Duehr assisted.

Nelson pulled the Islanders to within two goals early in the third period. Matt Martin screened the Flames goaltender and Nelson’s wrist shot from just inside the blueline spoiled Markstrom’s shutout bid.

Huberdeau deposited a rebound and scored a power-play goal midway through the second period to give Calgary a 2-0 edge at the time. Yegor Sharangovich’s one-time blast from the top of the right faceoff circle created a juicy rebound that Huberdeau cashed in on.

Coleman added an empty-net goal at 15:59 of the third period, which extended the Flames lead to 4-1.

Pageau scored his seventh of the season at 17:28 of the third period.

Weegar closed out the scoring and completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal in the final minute of regulation.

UP NEXT:

Flames: Visit New York Rangers Monday

Islanders: Host Seattle Kraken Tuesday

Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat each had a goal and an assist and the New York Islanders surged past the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 on Thursday night.

Noah Dobson, Kyle Palmieri, Ryan Pulock and Casey Cizikas also scored for the Islanders, who won their second in a row since coming out of the All-Star break. Ilya Sorokin finished with 16 saves and recorded his 16th win of the season.

Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Hagel scored for Tampa Bay, but the Lightning lost their second consecutive game. Jonas Johansson made 18 saves.

The Islanders scored three times in each of the first two periods and limited the Lightning to only 10 shots on net through the first 40 minutes.

Barzal gave New York a 2-1 lead when he skillfully controlled a loose puck off an offensive zone faceoff, then roofed a backhander past Johansson at 14:07 of the first period.

The Islanders extended their lead to two goals after Palmieri buried a pretty pass from Mike Reilly at 18:34.

Hagel deposited a rebound and pulled the Lightning to within one goal early in the second period.

But the Islanders responded with force, scoring three more times in the middle frame to take a commanding 6-2 lead.

Pulock blasted a slap shot and collected his third of the season at 7:10.

Horvat connected on a slap shot of his own at 8:18 that Johannson could have saved if not for a screen from Islanders captain Anders Lee.

Cizikas, in his first game back since being activated from injured reserve, capped the second-period scoring. The gritty forward slid a puck between the legs of Johansson at 15:22.

Dobson registered his seventh goal to open the scoring at 4:07 of the first period. The defenseman was looking for Oliver Wahlstrom on the back post, but the puck deflected off Lightning defenseman Eric Cernak’s skate and into Tampa Bay’s net.

Kucherov tied it at 1 with his team-leading 33rd goal at 6:42 of the first period.

SIDELINED SERGACHEV

Lightning coach Jon Cooper said before the game that D Mikhail Sergachev had surgery in New York on Thursday to stabilize fractures to both the tibia and fibula in his left leg. He will miss “significant time,” Cooper said, after his leg bent at an awkward angle after an exchange of hits with Rangers forward Alexis Lafreniere on Wednesday.

UP NEXT:

Lightning: Visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

Islanders: Host the Calgary Flames on Saturday.