Islanders maroon the St. Louis Blues...
The St Louis Blues (9-11-1) start a tough stretch of games with 7 of the next 8 games on the road with this first game against the NY Islanders (7-8-5). Oskar Sundqvist will return to the lineup along with Matthew Kessel who are replacing Zack Bolduc and Corey Schueneman. Sundqvist will be on a line with Alexey Toropchenko and Nathan Walker…breaking up the WTF line. Radek Faksa will move to a line centering Dylan Holloway and Mathieu Joseph.
Jordan Binnington will get the start in net as he looks to set the franchise record for wins by a goaltender. Ilya Sorokin in net for the Islanders.
Islanders strike first…late in the first…
The Islanders lead the NHL in face-off percentage…and take the least amount of penalties…which is good because they have the worst penalty kill in the league. New York had the edge in shots and on their 11th shot on a three-on-two and a bad clearing pass with just over a minute left in the period…a wrist shot beats Binnington on the stick side. The period ends 1 to 0 Islanders and they outshoot the Blues 12 to 7…Islanders blocked seven Blues shots.
Islanders add on…in the second
Islanders get a power play with 13:25 left in the period…31st ranked (of32 teams)…Blues with the 23rd ranked penalty kill prevails allowing two shots. Another PP for the Islanders with 4:30 left in the period…and they capitalize with a pass from behind the net to the slot and a quick wrist shot beats Binnington high glove side…no defender there to stop the open shot. Two to zero Islanders who continue to lead in shots 24 to 15.
Comeback time?
The Blues have six comeback wins on the season…can they make it seven? Blues go on the power play early…35 seconds into the third period…need to score! Jake Neighbours on the doorstep and he gets a pass from Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas with the second assist. One shot…one PP goal, 10 seconds into the power play.
Blues playing aggressively and spending most of the time in the Islander end. An Islander disallowed goal with 8:27 left on goalie interference keeps the game at 2 to 1. Pretty obvious bump into Binnington.
5 MINUTES!
Binnington makes two game-saving saves with three minutes left…did they save the game? Blues pull Binnington with 1:45 left…empty net goal for the Islanders with 35 seconds left…3 to 1 the final. Islanders lead in the shot column 31 to 25.
Notes: Islanders dominated in the face-off circle 64% to 36%...Blues seemed reluctant to shoot in the third period, especially with the goalie pulled...Jake Neighbours is the only Blue to score against the Islanders this season (1-0 victory earlier in the season)...Power play was 1 for 1 for the Blues.
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