Islanders give up late lead, fall to Blues in overtime

ST. LOUIS — Time will tell whether this was a key point earned or a crucial point lost in the Islanders’ playoff push.

That’s because after falling behind by two goals in the first period, the Blues dominated the second period, tied it late in the third period and went on to a 3-2 overtime win on Thursday night at Enterprise Center, somewhat spoiling the Islanders’ annual dads’ trip.

Defenseman Vince Dunn tied it with 1:44 left in the third period and defenseman Colton Parayko scored on a wraparound at 3:23 of overtime to win it.

“I know we have another level,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “It’s disappointing we didn’t get two. We got one and every point is going to matter here. We’ll see at the end of the whole process if this is the one that got away or this is the one that got us in.”

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the second straight game since being acquired from the Senators and Thomas Greiss made 29 saves in his first start since being pulled from a 5-0 loss at Nashville on Feb. 13.

The Islanders (35-20-8) moved within one point of the third-place Flyers in the Metropolitan Division and maintained their hold on the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot.

“It’s tough but, being on the road and playing a really good team, it’s important that we got that one point,” defenseman Ryan Pulock said. “It’s upsetting we couldn’t bear down and lock it down to collect two.”

The reigning Stanley Cup champion Blues (38-17-10) extended their winning streak to six games as Jordan Binnington needed to make only 15 saves, including four combined in the second and third periods.

“Overall, it went pretty well,” said Greiss, making his first start in seven games after allowing three goals on eight shots at Nashville. “You want to win. But they’re a good team, a strong team. They pressured hard at the end. We couldn’t grind it out.”

The Islanders could not add to their lead after Dunn was called for interference on Pulock at 14:30 of the third period. The power play’s key play occurred when Anders Lee was hit in the leg by Pulock’s slap shot and hobbled to the bench, though he quickly returned.

Dunn tied it at 2-2 from the high slot at 18:16, with Trotz faulting Lee and fellow forwards Leo Komarov and Brock Nelson for playing too wide and not shutting down the shooting lane in the middle.

Trotz also was displeased with his team’s second-period approach.

“I thought we refused to get pucks behind their defensemen,” he said. “Their defensemen have a lot of length and they have good sticks and they track. They’re a team that plays a 200-foot game. We wanted to play an east-west, lateral game, and when you have no space to do that, you’re just going to turn pucks over. Therefore, we generated zero offense because we were unwilling to play the game that was presented.”

The Islanders were held without a second-period shot until Ross Johnston’s wraparound attempt at 12:55. The Blues had a 10-1 shot advantage in the period.

Pageau connected on a power-play one-timer from the right circle off Mathew Barzal’s feed to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 8:20 of the first period.

Lee then found Jordan Eberle cutting to the crease for a backhander for a 2-0 lead at 16:34.

Brayden Schenn pulled the Blues within 2-1 at 19:05 of the first period with a one-timer from the right circle off Ryan O’Reilly’s feed.

“We grab a point,” Pageau said. “But we can’t be satisfied with that.”

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.