Preview: Blues at Islanders

When: Tuesday, March 5 at 6:30 p.m. CT
Where: UBS Arena in Elmont, NY
Watch: ESPN+, Hulu
Listen: 101 ESPN, Blues App

TEAM SNAPSHOTS

BLUES The St. Louis Blues spoiled Dollar Dog Night at Wells Fargo Center on Monday with a 2-1 shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Aside from the hot dogs, fans of offense didn't have great reason to enjoy Monday's game. Scott Laughton put Philly on the board first, but the Blues were scoreless until Kevin Hayes - making his return to Philadelphia - scored on a breakaway with just over four minutes left in the second period.

From then on, the game was a stalemate. Jordan Binnington finished with 40 saves, while the Flyers blocked 29 shots as a team. While there were some close calls - and crossbars rung - neither regulation nor overtime would be enough. The Blues and Flyers would go into a shootout tied at one apiece.

Only Jake Neighbours and Morgan Frost scored on their attempts, so the shootout became sudden death. Owen Tippett sent his shot wide, setting up Pavel Buchnevich to be the hero once again. He faked out Samuel Ersson going blocker side before tucking the game away on his backhand.

The Blues have now won two games in a row and have points in their last three.

“We need to string together some wins," Hayes said after the game. "We have a big road trip. We’ve got five games. We’re in a spot where, if we’re successful we can battle into the playoffs, so I think starting [Monday], these are huge points."

Currently, the Blues (32-26-3) are the first team out of a playoff spot. The Nashville Predators and Los Angeles Kings hold the two Wild Card spots in the Western Conference. Both are tied at 72 points, while the Blues have 67. The Preds have won eight in a row, while the Kings have won seven of their last ten, so the Blues will need as many points as possible on this road trip to match that pace.

The Blues are spending the whole week in the Tri-State area. They're off Wednesday, but then they head to Newark to take on the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night. The Blues will then spend Saturday in Manhattan for a date with the New York Rangers.

ISLANDERS The New York Islanders had a much easier time on offense in their last game than the Blues did.

Saturday, the Isles hosted the Boston Bruins, who've lost four of their last five games. New York came out swinging thanks to a first-period hat trick from Kyle Palmieri. It was the 33-year-old's third career hat trick and first since 2019. 

“I mean, you probably couldn’t have drawn up [that first period] much better,” Palmieri said. “Hat tricks definitely don’t get old. You don’t get too many of them. So, it was a lot of fun and I’ll enjoy it.”

New York didn't let off the gas either. By the time Boston got its first, the Islanders already had five. The home team walked away with a 5-1 win and their third straight victory.

"Nights like this, for coaches it’s fun because everybody played a really good game," Islanders coach Patrick Roy said after the game. "I thought that our guys were (strong) on the puck, we were quick to help support each other offensively, but we did the same thing defensively…That pleased me a lot to see our guys committed like this.”

The Islanders (26-20-14), like the Blues, are the first team out of the playoffs in their conference. The Islanders have 66 points, which is six behind the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning - the two Eastern Conference Wild Card teams - and the Flyers, who are third in the Metropolitan Division.

HEAD TO HEAD This is the second and final matchup between the Blues and Islanders this season. St. Louis took the earlier matchup 4-0 on Feb. 22 at Enterprise Center. The Blues have won two games in a row against the Isles and are 3-1-0 in their last four games against them.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

BLUES Pavel Buchnevich was the shootout hero Monday night, and he was the hero when the Islanders came to Enterprise Center on Feb. 22. Then, Buchnevich logged his fourth career hat trick and second of the season. 

ISLANDERS Mathew Barzal, the Islanders' representative at the NHL All-Star Game, had one assist Saturday. Barzal is riding a four-game point streak with a goal and four helpers in that span.

BLUE NOTES

• Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong became the 11th GM in NHL history to reach 800 career wins Monday. Armstrong, who's been with the Blues since 2011, is the second-fastest GM to ever reach the milestone.
• The Islanders are tied with the Boston Bruins for the most overtime losses this season (14). The all-time record, 18, has been reached four times, last by the 2014-15 Flyers.
• Kevin Hayes' regulation goal Monday snapped a 19-game goalless drought. Hayes has 23 points in 61 games this season.
• The Blues are 14-11-1 against the Eastern Conference this season and 7-5-0 against the Metropolitan Divison.
• Since Drew Bannister took over as Head Coach, the Blues' power play has operated at 24.8%, good for eighth in the NHL. Before Bannister, the Blues were 8.4%, the second-lowest percentage in the league.