The last good minutes of Saturday were not enough for the New York Islanders to win the first game of a seven-game home series.
For the Seattle Kraken, a second straight comeback victory Saturday kept alive their chances of turning a four-game road trip into a winning trip.
The Islanders and Kraken will both complete a back-to-back set on Sunday when they meet in Elmont, New York.
The surging Islanders were cooled Saturday when they lost 2-1 to the St. Louis Blues. The Kraken overcame a third-period deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in overtime.
The loss was just the second in the last eight games for the Islanders, who returned home Saturday after going 6-1-0 on a road trip. The six wins tied a franchise record for a single trip, previously set when New York went 6-1-0 during a seven-game stretch between February 19 and March 6, 2016.
New York looked travel-weary for much of Saturday morning. The team didn’t get its first shot back until just after halfway through the first period and was in danger of being shut out 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 overturned due to goaltender interference on Kyle Palmieri. Blues defender Justin Faulk was whistled for high-sticking just before Palmieri’s infraction, but New York failed to equalize despite peppering Jordan Binnington with four shots.
“It’s going to be important that we get on a good run at home,” Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock said. “It’s obviously a great road trip, but that’s OK. We’ve got to hit the ground running at home. I don’t want to lose first, but we have a chance to do it tomorrow.”
The Kraken moved one step closer to a memorable road trip Saturday, when Matty Beniers tied the game with 7:24 left in the third before Brandon Montour scored the game-winner with 40 seconds left in overtime.
The Kraken have come back in four of their last five victories, including both victories on the trip that ends Sunday. Seattle overcame a two-goal third-period deficit by scoring three times in less than 13 minutes in a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.
With a victory on Sunday, the Kraken would earn their first winning road trip of the season. Seattle went 2-2-2 on a six-game road trip from Oct. 14-23 before splitting regulation time with the Dallas Blues and 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 being fired and replaced by Patrick Roy on Jan. 20, 2024.
“When we went down, I thought we started making more plays and creating more things offensively. I think we have to do that, we have to do that from the start.”
–Field level media
