Nelson has 3 points, Palmieri scores twice to lift Islanders past Blues

ELMONT, N.Y -- Brock Nelson had a goal and two assists, and Kyle Palmieri scored twice for the New York Islanders in a 3-1 win against the St. Louis Blues at UBS Arena on Saturday.

Ilya Sorokin stopped 24 of 25 shots for the Islanders (8-8-5), who had lost three straight and went 1-2-2 on a five-game road trip.

“It was important [to close that one out],” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “And I thought we played a strong game. I mean, the first game, coming back from a long trip like this is always a tough one. And I was pretty pleased that we played that game. I thought we had a strong game.”

Jake Neighbours scored for the Blues (9-12-1), who have lost three of their past four. Jordan Binnington made 28 saves.

“We didn’t generate enough to win that hockey game,” Blues coach Drew Bannister said. “I thought in the second half we did a better job of finding ways to get pucks to the net, which created more opportunities for us to retrieve pucks and spend more time in the offensive zone. We had some quality chances, but I thought early on we didn’t do enough 5-on-5 to create the opportunities.”

Palmieri gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 18:51 of the first period. Nelson picked off a Pierre-Olivier Joseph pass at the red line, skated into the offensive zone on a 3-on-2 rush and fed Palmieri, who beat Binnington with a wrist shot between the circles.

Nelson extended the lead to 2-0 at 15:55 with a power-play goal. He took a pass from Maxim Tsyplakov behind the net and scored with a one-timer from the slot as he was knocked to his knees by a cross-check from Brayden Schenn.

Sorokin slid to his right to deny Nathan Walker with the top of his left pad at 19:22 of the second to keep the Islanders up 2-0.

Neighbours tapped in a cross-crease pass from Pavel Buchnevich 45 seconds into the third period on the power play to cut it to 2-1.

“We scored two goals a game. You can’t win the games like that,” Buchnevich said. “Our goalies have to stop 50 shots per game. That’s impossible. Our team has good players and we have to figure it out offensively.”

Noah Dobson appeared to push it to 3-1 at 11:37, but the Blues successfully challenged for goaltender interference on Palmieri.

“I didn't see it right away, but obviously, when it's a quick one like that, you not expecting great things,” Nelson said of the Blues’ challenge. “But we just tried to get back on the attack. We didn't get a whole lot, offensively, in the third, being up. It was disappointing [for that goal not to count]. At the same time, you just flush it, move on and try to get the next one.”

Palmieri added an empty-net goal at 19:23 for the 3-1 final.

“I mean, it’s a great feeling,” Palmieri said. “Obviously, the way the last couple games have gone, our goalies have given us chances to win, and we haven't found a way to get the insurance. So, it felt good to do that tonight.”

NOTES: With his multipoint night, Nelson tied John Tonelli for the ninth-most points in franchise history (544). ... Sorokin recorded his 100th NHL win. … Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield had an NHL career-high 10 blocked shots. ... Blues forward Robert Thomas has five assists during a four-game point streak.