Game Preview: Islanders at Blues

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (23-18-14) AT ST LOUIS BLUES (29-24-2)

8 PM ET | ENTERPRISE CENTER

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The New York Islanders are looking to string two wins together when they take on the St. Louis Blues on Thursday at Enterprise Center.

The Islanders earned two important points against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night in a Metropolitan Division showdown in the Steel City. Adam Pelech buried the OT-winner for the Islanders 57 seconds into the extra frame while Brock Nelson (1G, 1A), Mathew Barzal (1G, 1A), Simon Holmstrom and Mike Reilly scored for the Islanders in regulation. Ilya Sorokin made 37 saves in the win and the victory extended the Islanders’ point streak to three games (1-0-2). Though the Islanders let a 4-2 lead slip in the third, getting the job done in overtime is encouraging for the group.

“It was a confidence booster for our group, we needed that,” Mathew Barzal said after the win. “We really have no time to sit around and have a bad game, so every game is important and tonight was huge. Especially when a guy like Pelech scores in overtime, that can be seriously uplifting.”

The Blues had two days between games since their 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. Brandon Saad and Pavel Buchnevich scored the pair of goals for St. Louis, while Joel Hofer made 25 saves. 

The Blues are the only team the Islanders have not played yet this season. The Islanders split the season series with the Blues last year (1-1-0) and have not played them since Dec. 6, 2022.

MORNING SKATE UPDATES 

- Casey Cizikas is out against the Blues and will be evaluated when the team gets back to New York, while Robert Bortuzzo faced a setback in recovery and is out indefinitely, per Islanders President and GM Lou Lamoriello. 

- Semyon Varlamov is the expected goaltender against the Blues. Varlamov is 6-6-3 this season with a .912 SV% and a 2.90 GAA. Against St. Louis, Varlamov owns a career record of 10-11-3, along with a .925 SV%, a 2.48 GAA and three shutouts.

- Jordan Binnington will face the Islanders in net. The 30-year-old netminder is 19-15-2 with a 2.93 GAA and .908 SV% this season. He is 2-2-2 in six career appearances against the Islanders, along with a .909 SV% and a 2.32 GAA.

ISLANDERS NOTES

- The New York Islanders placed Hudson Fasching (lower-body) on LTIR on Wednesday, retroactive to Jan. 25. The winger skated with the team on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but did not join the team for the road trip because of an illness. Fasching missed eight games after he suffered an injury on Jan. 25 against Montreal. Per LTIR rules, which specify that a player must sit out 10 games and 24 days, he's eligible to return on Thursday against Detroit at the earliest.

- Casey Cizikas exited the game early in the third period of Tuesday’s 5-4 OT win and did not return. While the team does not have an update on Cizikas as of Wednesday, the Islanders recalled center Kyle MacLean from Bridgeport. MacLean, 24, played in six games with the Islanders from Jan. 19 to Feb. 5 and scored his first NHL goal on Feb. 5 in a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

- Mathew Barzal extended his point streak to a season-long eight games with a goal in Tuesday's contest. He has 11 points (5G, 6A) over his eight-game streak, one game shy of matching his career-long nine games. He leads the team lead in scoring with 59 points (17G, 42A).

- The Islanders had a rebound performance on the penalty kill, going three-for-three on the night that marked the second time in the last nine games the shorthanded unit did not surrender a goal.

BLUES NOTES

- The Blues have dropped two consecutive contests following a stretch where they went 8-2-0.  With 60 points through 55 games, the Blues occupy the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. 

- Justin Faulk (lower-body) was placed on LTIR on Tuesday after he missed 10 games. The 31-year-old defenseman has 19 points (2G, 17A) through 40 games this season, along with 77 blocked shots and 52 hits. 

- The team placed Scott Perunovich (lower-body) on IR on Tuesday after he missed seven games. The 25-year-old defenseman has 12 points (12A) through 50 games this season. 

- The Blues recalled Zach Bolduc on Tuesday from their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds. The 20-year-old forward will make his NHL debut against the Islanders if he plays on Thursday night. Bolduc, who was drafted 17th overall by the Blues in the 2021 NHL draft, has 23 points (8G, 15A) through 48 games for the Thunderbirds in his first professional season. 

- Robert Thomas leads the Blues in goals (19),assists (43) and points (62) in his sixth season with the team. The 24-year-old is riding a four-game point streak with nine points (2G, 7A) over that span.

- The Blues made a coaching change earlier in the season, parting ways with Craig Berube and hiring Drew Bannister as their interim head coach. Berube was 206-132-44 with the Blues, leading the team to the Stanley Cup in 2019. 

- The Blues were 13-14-1 at the time Berube was relieved of his duties; he served as interim head coach for the 2019 Stanley Cup. Since Bannister took over, the Blues are 16-10-1.