Preview: Blues vs. Islanders

BLUES VS. ISLANDERS

TEAM SNAPSHOTS

BLUES The St. Louis Blues' last game was a back-and-forth seesaw battle that featured five lead changes. Eventually, Zach Sanford put the Blues ahead for good with less than six minutes to go in regulation with his second goal of the game.
The Blues eventually beat the rival Chicago Blackhawks 6-5, earning their fifth consecutive win.
"I don't know the last time we had a game like that here," Sanford said after the game. "I don't know that that's our style, but those ones are always fun to be part of."
"Crazy game," added Robert Thomas, who contributed three points in the victory. "We have to tighten it up a little bit but happy we got the two points. A lot of run-and-gun, a lot of transition chances, and it's not our game."
Thanks to the winning streak, the Blues have held onto their lead atop the Central Division and Western Conference. As of Wednesday, the Dallas Stars (80 points) and the Colorado Avalanche (79) ranked second and third, respectively.
ISLANDERS Coach Barry Trotz has his New York Islanders in the first Wild Card position in the Eastern Conference after the club reached the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season.
The Islanders are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games and are coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
The Isles had a busy trade deadline, adding defenseman Andy Greene from the New Jersey Devils in mid-February before acquiring center Jean-Gabriel Pageau from the Ottawa Senators. Pageeau has a career-high 25 goals and 16 assists in 61 games this season. He scored in his debut with the Islanders on Tuesday.
Matt Barzal leads the Islanders in points (54), while Brock Nelson is a close second (50 points).
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues and Islanders last met back on Oct. 14 at Nassau Colisseum - a 3-2 overtime win for New York.
The Blues have earned points in back-to-back games against the Islanders, but lost both games in overtime.
In the last 12 meetings between the clubs, six games have gone to overtime.

HOT VS. ISLANDERS

• Brayden Schenn has 11 points in his last 11 games (three goals, eight assists)
  - Ryan O'Reilly four points in his last six games (two goals, two assists)
  - David Perron has four points in his last six games (one goal, three assists)
  - Jaden Schwartz has five assists in his last six games

BLUE NOTES

The Blues' five-game winning streak is the second-longest active streak in the NHL, trailing only the Vegas Golden Knights, who have won six straight. In the last five, the Blues have given up just seven goals while scoring 19… Marco Scandella has posted a plus-5 rating in his four games with the Blues, which ranks second only to Justin Faulk (plus-6) in that span… Zach Sanford has scored 11 goals since Jan. 18, which ranks third in the NHL in that span behind Carolina's Sebastian Aho and Washington's Alex Ovechkin.