A good final few minutes Saturday weren’t enough for the New York Islanders to salvage the opener of a season-long seven-game homestand.
For the Seattle Kraken, a second straight comeback win Saturday maintained their chances to turn a four-game road trip into a winning one.
The Islanders and Kraken will both complete a back-to-back set on Sunday when they meet in Elmont, N.Y.
The surging Islanders were cooled off Saturday when they fell 2-1 to the St. Louis Blues. The Kraken overcame a third-period deficit to edge the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in overtime.
The loss was just the second in the last eight games for the Islanders, who arrived home Saturday after going 6-1-0 on a road trip. The six wins tied a franchise record for a single trip, set previously when New York went 6-1-0 on a seven-game trek from Feb. 19-March 6, 2016.
New York appeared travel-weary for much of Saturday’s matinee. The team didn’t collect its first shot until just beyond the midway point of the first period and was in danger of being blanked for the first time this season until captain Anders Lee scored with 3:20 left in the third.
The Islanders appeared to tie the game just 74 seconds later, but Bo Horvat’s goal was waved off due to goalie interference on Kyle Palmieri. Blues defenseman Justin Faulk was whistled for high-sticking just before Palmieri’s infraction, but New York couldn’t score the equalizer despite peppering Jordan Binnington with four shots.
“It’s going to be important here that we get on a roll at home,” Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock said. “Obviously a great road trip, but it doesn’t matter. We have to get on a roll at home. Don’t want to lose the first one, but we have a chance at it tomorrow.”
The Kraken inched closer to a memorable road trip Saturday, when Matty Beniers tied the game with 7:24 left in the third before Brandon Montour collected the game-winner with 40 seconds remaining in overtime.
The Kraken have mounted comebacks in four of their last five wins, including both victories on the trip that concludes Sunday. Seattle overcame a two-goal third-period deficit by scoring three times in a span of fewer than 13 minutes in a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.
With a victory Sunday, the Kraken would clinch their first winning road trip of the season. Seattle went 2-2-2 during a six-game trip from Oct. 14-23 before splitting in regulation with the Blues and Dallas Stars from Nov. 8-9.
“I think we can build on our third period,” said Kraken head coach Lane Lambert, who coached the Islanders for 127 regular-season games before he was fired and replaced by Patrick Roy on Jan. 20, 2024.
“When we got down, I thought we started to make more plays and create more stuff offensively. I think we have to do that, We have to do that right from the get-go.”
