The St. Louis Blues certainly have the New York Islanders attention after their meeting on Jan. 5.
The Islanders beat the Blues 4-3, but felt lucky to have left Missouri with two points, as the Blues outshot the Islanders 32-14 and controlled large portions of the game.
"They probably should have beat us in their building, so I expect a pretty tough game tonight." Matt Martin said. "They're a team that three weeks ago everyone said was out of it and they were going to blow it up, now they're four points out with a bunch of games in hand. They're playing really good hockey."
Martin characterized the Islanders stretch of four games from St. Louis to the second Rangers game, as average - well below the potential the Isles showed vs Tampa, or Toronto. Martin was one of several Islanders who are hoping the jolt of beating the Bolts gets the Islanders back into their groove.
"We just have to build off the momentum of the Tampa game and understand that it doesn't get any easier tonight," Martin said. "We'll be okay if we play the right way."
