Tarasenko propels Blues to shootout win over Isles
NEW YORK -- Vladimir Tarasenko and Brayden Schenn scored in the shootout Monday afternoon for the St. Louis Blues, who survived a furious third-period comeback by the New York Islanders to earn a 3-2 win at Barclays Center.
Tarasenko scored twice in the second period for the Blues (3-0-0), who killed all five penalties they incurred Monday and are perfect through three games for the second straight season.
Goalie Jake Allen made 40 saves in regulation and overtime before stopping both shots he faced in the shootout.
Andrew Ladd and Anders Lee scored late in the third period for the Islanders (1-1-1), who have lost two of their first three games for the second consecutive year. Goalie Thomas Greiss recorded 33 saves.
The Blues' most impressive penalty kill occurred early in the second and ended fewer than two minutes before Tarasenko's first goal. St. Louis survived a four-minute cross-checking penalty by Robert Bortuzzo, which included 1:23 of a 5-on-3 opportunity after Carl Gunnarsson was whistled for slashing.
Tarasenko put the Blues ahead with a nifty goal in which he managed to shed the Islanders' Jordan Eberle by doing a 180-degree turn and firing a backhanded shot past Greiss at the 9:38 mark.
Tarasenko doubled the Blues' lead a little less than six minutes later, when his shot from the right faceoff circle sailed past Greiss for a power-play goal.
The Islanders peppered Allen with 16 shots in the third period before finally breaking through in the final seven minutes. Allen stopped Jason Chimera at point-blank range seconds after the period's opening faceoff. He got some help from Joel Edmundson about eight minutes later, when Brock Nelson's attempt to jam home a rebound skittered along the back of the net before Edmundson shoved it out of the crease with his stick.
The Islanders cut the gap in half with 6:56 left, when Allen, screened by Nelson as well as Edmundson, could not pick up Ladd's shot from the left faceoff circle.
Moments after Greiss was pulled for the extra skater, Lee, stationed in front of Allen, wrapped a shot around him with one minute left.
NOTES: The Blues improved to 8-1-0 on Columbus Day while the Islanders fell to 6-8-1-1 (wins-losses-overtime losses-ties). ... The Islanders scratched RW Cal Clutterbuck (lower body) as well as D Ryan Pulock and D Dennis Seidenberg. ... The Blues scratched D Nate Prosser, C Oskar Sundqvist and RW Chris Thorburn.