3 Takeaways: Isles Trip Ends With 6-1 Loss to Blues

The New York Islanders five-game road trip ended on a sour note, as the Isles fell 6-1 to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night at Enterprise Center.
Grant Hutton scored his first-NHL goal, but only after the Islanders found themselves in a 5-0 hole. Justin Faulk (2G, 1A), Robert Thomas (1G, 2A) and Vladimir Tarasenko (1G, 2A) each had three points in the win. Former Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy and forward Ivan Barbashev (1G, 1A) also scored for the Blues, while Jordan Kyrou had a pair of assists.

Semyon Varlamov stopped 25 of 31 shot in the loss, while Jordan Binnington stopped 30 of 31 for his first win since Feb. 27.
The Islanders loss, combined with the Washington Capitals 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon, leaves the Isles 13 points back of the second Wild Card with 11 games to play.
"Just too many mental errors," Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "The [Blues] kept it simple. They went in straight lines, made plays, put it to the net won races, and shot the puck and we didn't do that. We refused to get it deep and turned it over at their blue line and they come back the other way. We just didn't have a lot of lot of juice and once they got the three and four that our tanks were becoming pretty empty."

BLUES OPEN FLOODGATES:

St. Louis entered Saturday's game having scored four-or-more goals in seven straight, so the Islanders knew they were going to have to contend with an offensively-charged Blues squad.
Before the Blues opened the floodgates, the Islanders had a pair of grade-A chances in the first period, providing a pair of "what if" moments for New York.
BLUES 6, ISLES 1
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Anders Lee was denied in tight by Binnington off a feed from Brock Nelson below the goal line, though Nelson had the Islanders best chance of the period. Mathew Barzal found the Islanders leading goal scorer with a seam pass on a power play, but the Blues' netminder read the play and was able to slide across his crease to deny Nelson.
The missed chances came back to bite the Islanders, as Leddy opened the scoring at 14:21, beating Varlamov blocker side for his first goal against his former team. That tipped the momentum in St. Louis' favor, as the Blues had the final eight shots on goal to end the period. That included Tarasenko's team-leading 26th of the season, as he swept a Colton Parayko rebound by Varlamov at 17:10.
The Blues broke open the game in the second period, scoring four more goals. Faulk netted a pair 1:36 apart, giving St. Louis a 4-0 advantage. Faulk beat a screened Varlamov with a wrister from the high slot at 4:05 and the defenseman netted another one less than two minutes later, knocking a Kyrou rebound out of the air on a Blues three-on-one rush at 5:41.
"Just an uncharacteristic second period," captain Anders Lee said. "Too many odd man rushes a clear breakaway, three and ones. We gave Varly no chance and you know you don't see that from us very often."
Barbashev made it 5-0 at 16:57 of the second period, cleaning up a Kyrou rebound after Varlamov stopped the initial breakaway try. Hutton put the Islanders on the board at 18:41, but Thomas re-established the five-goal lead 39 seconds later.

HUTTON SCORES FIRST NHL GOAL:

If there was one bright spot on Saturday night, it was Grant Hutton's first NHL goal.
The defenseman put a point shot on net that deflected Parakyo and past Jordan Binnington. Hutton's goal came in his 13th NHL game.
"It was exciting obviously, but it's unfortunate where the score was at that point in the game," Hutton said. It's kind of lucky goal, just throw it on net and Lee was in front and it must have gone off the defenseman's stick or something, but it's a good feeling. It's always nice, coming back in the room and saying congrats. Just unfortunate outcome for us."
Hutton grew up four hours away in Carmel, ID, which is situated in the middle of three NHL cities - St. Louis, Chicago and Columbus. The 26-year-old said that while Saturday was his first time at Enterprise Center, his junior billet family was in attendance for the game.
"The first one is just special no matter what right? It doesn't really matter where it is," Hutton said. "I was just happy to get that first one."

CIZIKAS MISSES GAME DUE TO SUSPENSION, ANDREOFF RECALLED:

Casey Cizikas missed Saturday's game as he was serving a one-game suspension for boarding Carolina's Brendan Smith on Friday night.
Without a natural center to step in for the Islanders, the team recalled Andy Andreoff for Saturday's game. Andreoff had previously played five games with the Islanders during the team's COVID-19 outbreak in late November and early December.
Andreoff skated 10:36 with two missed shots, three hits and went 3-for-8 in the faceoff circle.

NEXT GAME:

After five games on the road, the Islanders head back home to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night at UBS Arena. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.