ELMONT, N.Y. — Thomas Greiss couldn’t have picked a better time for his best game of the season.
Josh Leivo couldn’t have picked a better time for his first Blues goal. Same with Will Bitten and his first NHL assist (and point). It all added up to a sorely needed 7-4 victory by the Blues on Tuesday at UBS Arena over the New York Islanders.
For one night at least, they stopped the bleeding — having lost six of their previous seven games. For the first time in four games, they didn’t give up six goals. Lastly, for the first time in 24 hours, they were able to protect a lead in the third period. At 12-14-0 for the season, there’s no need for a parade.
On Monday at Madison Square Garden, the Blues took a 4-3 lead into the final period only to surrender three goals and lose 6-4. On Tuesday, they took a 3-1 lead into the final period and added to it with two goals in the first four minutes.
In fact it was two goals in 13 seconds, first on a Noel Acciari deflection of a Justin Faulk shot. And then a shot from distance by Colton Parayko — his first goal of the season — that seemed to catch Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin by disguise.
But absolutely nothing comes easy for the Blues this season — we all know that by now. And goals by Zach Parise, on the power play, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau just 21 seconds apart made it a 5-4 game with 4:56 left in the contest.
An empty net goal by Robert Thomas with 1:57 left gave the Blues a 6-4 cushion. And a few seconds later, Acciari scored another empty-netter.
Bitten by Will
Playing in just his second NHL game, Bitten helped give the Blues the lead early in the second period. In the lineup only because Pavel Buchnevich was out with a lower-body injury, Bitten got to a loose puck in the neutral zone creating an instant 2-on-1 break.
He passed to Ivan Barbashev in the slot and Barbashev buried it for his fourth goal of the season and ending a personal 10-game goal drought. Playing in just his second NHL game after more than four seasons in the minors, it was Bitten’s first NHL point.
The sequence began when Niko Mikkola attempted to rim the puck out from behind the St. Louis goal. The puck got past St. Louisan Scott Mayfield, the Islanders defenseman, at the blue line. And that’s where Bitten came in.
So the Blues were up 2-1 at the 3:51 mark of the second period. It became a 3-1 St. Louis lead on an extra-effort play by Ryan O’Reilly late in the period.
Fed in front of the net by Leivo, O’Reilly couldn’t get his first shot — in tight — past Sorokin. But Sorokin left a rebound, and diving to the ice, O’Reilly poked the puck in. So O’Reilly, who had only one goal in his first 10 games this season, now has nine and four in his last six games. For Leivo, it was his seventh assist of the season.
And the Blues took a 3-1 lead into the final period even though they had been outshot 27-19.
First for Leivo
Leivo isn’t shy about shooting. He led or shared the team lead in shots on goal four times in his first 15 games with the Blues. In Game 16 with St. Louis, he finally got his first goal leading a 2-on-1 rush with O’Reilly on his left.
Leivo didn’t have a real good passing lane to O’Reilly, so he took the shot himself and beat Sorokin, crashing into the end boards after his shot. That gave the Blues a 1-0 lead with 2:47 left in the opening period.
The lead didn’t last long. Just 39 seconds later, it was tied 1-1 when Noah Dobson came crashing down on right wing and got behind Acciari for his eighth goal of the season. The sequence began when Calle Rosen couldn’t clear the puck out of the zone.
The Islanders outshot the Blues 13-6 in the period, even though the Blues had two (unsuccessful) power play opportunities to none for the home team. New York entered the game with the league’s fifth-best penalty kill at 81.5%.
Homecomings
Both defenseman Nick Leddy and goalie Greiss spent good chunks of their careers with the New York Islanders. Early in Tuesday’s game, Leddy received warm applause from the crowd and even a couple of “Leddy! Leddy!” chants after a brief video tribute. On the bench at the time, Leddy stood to acknowledge the crowd.
Leddy played 518 regular-season games for the Isles over seven seasons. Tuesday marked his first game on Long Island against his former team since he was traded to Detroit on July 16, 2021.
Greiss, who played 193 games here from 2015-20, didn’t get the welcome treatment. He played here last March 24 as a member of the Detroit Red Wings.
