Takeaways: Islanders Fall 2-1 to Blues in Return Home

The New York Islanders homecoming was spoiled on Saturday afternoon, as they fell 2-1 to the St. Louis Blues at UBS Arena in their first home game following their seven-game road trip.

Anders Lee scored the lone goal for the Islanders, but the offense came too late and was not enough to overcome goals from Brayden Schenn and Pius Suter.

Ilya Sorokin stopped 20 of 22 shots in the loss, while Jordan Binnington stopped 28 of 29 in the win.

While it was a disappointing way to follow-up a 6-1-0 road trip, the Islanders said the focus has to be on rebounding on Sunday against Seattle and taking advantage of a seven-game homestand.

“It's going to be important here that we get on a roll at home,” Ryan Pulock said. “Obviously, a great road trip, but it doesn't matter. We have to get on a roll at home. Don't want to lose the first one, but we have a chance at it tomorrow.”

TAKEAWAYS

- The return home got off on the wrong foot, as Schenn scored on St. Louis’ first shot of the game, beating Sorokin high blocker side on an odd-man rush 42 seconds in. That was one of the “flat” moments the Islanders spoke about postgame, an aftereffect of returning home from a lengthy trip.

“The first goal probably hurt us a bit, and we just couldn't get that one back till the end,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “[The first game back after a trip] are always tougher games and I guess the fact that we were trailing early on probably hurt us a little bit as well. We didn't have the same jump that we had, maybe on the on the road, which is normal.”

- Sorokin settled into the game as it wore on, notably robbing Dalibor Dvorsky on a backdoor play on a Blues power play to keep it 1-0. The Blues opened up a 2-0 lead with 2:09 to play in the second period, as Suter got inside position on Tony DeAngelo in front of the Islanders net and was the first to a Dylan Holloway rebound. The Islanders limited the shots against Sorokin and he was good enough to keep the Isles in it until the end.

- There wasn’t a lot out there for either team on Saturday, as both teams clogged shooting lanes at five-on-five. The Islanders finished the game with 31 shots – but had 14 blocked by the Blues and another 16 that missed the net – and the 31 shots on goal total was buoyed by 12 in the third period.

“They did a pretty good job today of collapsing,” Pulock said. “I thought there was maybe a few times where we had pucks at the point right away, where maybe we had some guys alone in front that we weren't really able to get them a puck.

- The Islanders finally broke through with 3:20 left to play in the third period, as Lee got the last touch on a Mathew Barzal rebound. The goal came in a six-on-five situation and set up a dramatic finish. After Lee – who had a team-high five shots – closed the gap to one, the Islanders pulled Sorokin again for an extra attacker and seemingly tied the score off a Jonathan Drouin deflection, but it was waved off for goalie interference. Roy agreed with the call, citing a similar play that went the Isles way in the closing seconds against Dallas on Tuesday.

While the Isles didn’t get a goal, they got a four-minute power play and pulled the goalie for a six-on-four advantage. Bo Horvat had the Isles best chance, but his one-timer was gloved by a sliding Binnington, who picked it up in traffic.

- Give credit to Binnington, who was good from start to finish for the Blues. He was equal to some good looks from Drouin the second period, a partial breakaway for Lee in the third and a good shot from Max Shabanov, who was elevated to a line with Drouin and Barzal late.

“We had some good looks late,” Lee said. “Binnington was pretty solid tonight. I liked our game. I think we stuck with it. We didn't deviate from the style of play and our focus that we've had the last little bit here. We just didn't get the extra one to get us into OT.”

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders are back in action on Sunday evening when they host the Seattle Kraken. Puck drop is at 5 PM