Game Day: Islanders vs. Blues
Islanders conclude three-game road trip in The Gateway City on Thursday.
Tonight, the New York Islanders conclude their first road trip of the season against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center. Puck drop is at 8:00 p.m. EST, and the game can be found on MSGSN.
The Islanders and Blues split their two meetings last season. In their first meeting, Pavel Buchnevich scored a hat trick, and Jordan Binnington pitched a 38-save shutout in a 4-0 Blues win, but the Islanders salvaged a split with four unanswered goals in a 4-2 win at UBS Arena.
St. Louis will likely be without Nick Leddy. The Hockey News’ Lou Korac reports the former Islanders defenseman will not play, as he’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
“They’re a structured team. They’re hard-working. They don’t give up a lot,” Blues head coach Drew Bannister said about facing the Islanders. “We’re going to have to play a full 60 minutes. That’s something we haven’t done yet this year. So, as a group, we have to be better and play a full 60 minutes. We have to play a solid hockey game here tonight against a very good team.”
WHERE THEY STAND:
The Blues opened their home portion of the schedule on Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild, and the visitors got the timely goals throughout, including one from an unlikely source. Ryan Hartman opened the scoring in the first period, and Jakob Lauko added on with his first goal with the Wild in the second. Marco Rossi and Mathieu Joseph traded goals in the first half of the third, but Filip Gustavsson sealed the game with a goalie goal. He added 27 saves to give Minnesota a 4-1 win.
New York picked up their first win of the season in Denver on Monday, besting the Colorado Avalanche 6-2. Calum Ritchie scored his first NHL goal to open the scoring early in the first, but Anders Lee and Kyle Palmieri red lights gave New York a 2-1 lead after 20. Brock Nelson added a highlight reel marker midway through the second and added a shorthanded goal to make it 4-1 Islanders after two periods. Casey Mittelstadt attempted to start a Colorado comeback early in the third, but Anthony Duclair restored the three-goal lead, and Mathew Barzal scored an empty netter to seal the victory.
OPPONENT LAST GAME: Wild 4, Blues 1
ISLANDERS PROJECTED LINES:
Duclair-Horvat-Barzal
Tsyplakov-Nelson-Palmieri
Lee-Pageau-Holmstrom
Cizikas-MacLean-Wahlstrom
Pelech-Pulock
Romanov-Dobson
Reilly-Mayfield
Sorokin
Varlamov
MATCHUP TO WATCH: Blues’ Top Line vs. Ilya Sorokin
St. Louis’ offense is driven by their top line of Brandon Saad, Robert Thomas, and Jordan Kyrou. Saad, who scored 26 goals last season, returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing the team’s first three games, and Kyrou and Thomas have been fantastic. Both were kept off the board on Tuesday, but Kyrou has two goals and four assists for six points thus far, while Thomas has a goal and three helpers for four points.
The three will go up against Ilya Sorokin, who was a star of the show on Monday. The Islanders’ starting goalie made 32 saves in the win against Colorado and will face a team he has faired well against in his career. He is 3-1-0 in four games against them with a 2.51 GAA and .911 SV%. He won his only matchup with St. Louis last season with 19 saves.
WHO IS HOT:
Every member of the Islanders’ top six recorded points in Monday’s win. Nelson led the way with two goals, while his linemates Palmieri and Maxim Tsyplakov each had a point, the latter assisted on Nelson’s first. On the top line, each member recorded one point each, with Barzal and Duclair each scoring goals; Horvat assisted on Duclair’s red light.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau recorded a goal in the Islanders’ last meeting with St. Louis, he leads the team in goals against the Blues with eight. He has goals in three of his last four games against them. Nelson leads the team in assists against St. Louis with eight and is tied with Lee for points with 12. Nelson also has seven points in his last six games against them, totaling two goals and five assists.
Barzal has also been hot for the Islanders against the Blues as of late. In his last eight games against them, he’s tallied two goals and six assists for eight points.
OPPONENT NOTES:
Joel Hofer will start for the Blues. It will be his second start of the season after stopping 25 shots in a 5-4 win over the San Jose Sharks. He started the last time the Blues faced the Islanders, making 29 saves on 32 shots in the Islanders’ 4-2 win.
In addition to their recent success across the league, Kyrou and Saad have also had the Islanders’ number as of late. They both have a goal and three assists for four points in their most recent matchups, with Kyrou’s points coming in the last three games and Saad’s coming in the last four.
Saad also enters Thursday’s game on milestone watch, as he sits one point shy of 500 in his career. The forward boasts 253 goals and 246 assists across his 864-game career.
Blues captain Brayden Schenn leads the team in scoring across the board against the Islanders. The former Philadelphia Flyer boasts seven goals and 16 assists for 23 points in 38 career games against them.
Projected Lines:
Islanders Community Events & Calendar:
Complimentary Parking!
Once again for the 2024-25 season, those that drive a BMW can receive complimentary single-game parking in the Emerald Parking lot.
Please click the BMW | Islanders image below for parking registration information,
Lee looks noticeably quicker.
Get a good win tonight. Rest of the month make up for first two games which I had Deja Vu 100%. I panicked after seeing those two, let’s establish a winning streak. Team needs to make a statement and get an identity. Team’s talent level is up, now let’s see these guys produce. Walhstrom doesn’t belong on this team period! I think Patty seen enough, I know I have!