Snap Shots: Islanders Vs Blues

Dec 5, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; The St. Louis Blues celebrate a goal against the New York Islanders during the second period at the Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to Snap Shots, our condensed post-game recap of the New York Islanders latest NHL matchup

New York Islanders (8-15-5, 21 pts) Vs St. Louis Blues (18-5-3, 39 pts)

Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO

8:00 PM EST

Blues 5, Islanders 1

Starting Lineup

26 Thomas Vanek – 91 John Tavares – 21 Kyle Okposo

40 Michael Grabner– 51 Frans Nielsen– 12 Josh Bailey

96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard – 16 Peter Regin – 15 Cal Clutterbuck

17 Matt Martin – 53 Casey Cizikas – 13 Colin McDonald

47 Andrew MacDonald – 3 Travis Hamonic

14 Thomas Hickey – 44 Calvin de Haan

55 Aaron Ness – 7 Matt Carkner

45 Anders Nilsson

60 Kevin Poulin

Scratches: Brock Nelson, Radek Martinek

Game Summary

The Blues struck first in tonight’s contest, as Jay Bouwmeester fired home a power-play slapshot for his second goal of the season assisted by Vladimir Sobotka and Ian Cole. Bouwmeester’s goal proved to be the only goal scored in the first period of play.

The Islanders showed signs of life early in the second period, as Andrew MacDonald put the Islanders on the board with a booming slapshot on the power play assisted by Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo. However, despite the Islanders’ timely goal, the St. Louis Blues responded very well. Derek Roy regained the lead for the Blues just minutes after Andrew MacDonald scored the equalizer goal. St. Louis never looked back, as David Backes netted his 13th goal of the season and Magnus Paajarvi scored his second of the season to make the score 4-1 in favor of St. Louis.

The Islanders, evidently frustrated coming into the third period, couldn’t get anything going. The team took several frustration penalties, and Brenden Morrow put home his fifth goal of the season amidst the Islanders’ frustration. The Blues won easily by a score of 5-1.

The Islanders’ penalty killing unit proved to be their downfall, as they gave up 3 power play goals. The Islanders currently have the worst penalty kill success rate in the NHL with a 71.4% success rate.

Statistics

Penalties

SOG

Islanders- 23, Blues- 26

Turning Point

Just minutes after Andrew MacDonald ties the game for the Islanders, Derek Roy responded with a Power Play Goal for the Blues. It was the game winning goal, as the Islanders simply could’t respond to St. Louis’ tenacious offense that followed this goal.

What’s Ahead

The Islanders take on the Los Angeles Kings this Saturday at 10:00 PM EST in their second game of a five game West Coast road trip. The Islanders continue to face top-tier teams in the NHL’s best conference, and the Islanders need to have their work cut out for them if they want to salvage anything over the next four games.