Game Preview: NY Islanders vs St. Louis Blues

The NY Islanders are aiming to start their three-game road trip 2-0-0 as they head to the Enterprise Center to face the St. Louis Blues. 

Last Game

The Islanders stayed hot on Tuesday night, as they picked up their fourth consecutive win, this time getting the best of the Chicago Blackhawks in a 3-1 victory. Goaltender Ilya Sorokin stopped 21 of 22 shots faced in the win, improving his goals-against average to 2.04. Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, and Zach Parise all found the back of the net against Hawks netminder Arvid Soderblom, who replaced Alex Stalock after Stalock left the game with an injury caused by a collision in front of the net with Casey Cizikas. 

It’s been a roller coaster start to the 2022-23 season for the St. Blues. After a 3-0-0 start, the Blues enter their matchup with the Isles on a five-game losing streak. In their most recent contest, a Monday night home game against the Los Angeles Kings, LA dominated the struggling Blues, winning by a final of 5-1, thanks in large part to a four-goal second period. It was a rough night for Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, as he allowed all five goals in the first period and a half, before being pulled for former Islander, Thomas Greiss. The Blues’ only goal of the game came off the stick of Alexey Toropchenko. 

Historical Matchup

In the two meetings between the Islanders and Blues a season ago, both teams defended their home ice. In the first battle, New York picked up a 2-1 win at UBS Arena behind goals from Oliver Wahlstrom and Nelson and 27 saves from Sorokin. Later on in the year, the squads met again at the Enterprise Center and it was all St. Louis, as they pounced on the Isles in a 6-1 win. 

In 119 all-time meetings, the Islanders are 56-37-20-6 against the Blues. 

Players to Watch

After scoring four goals in the first six games of the season, Lee was pretty quiet during the opening three games of the current win streak that the Islanders are on. Well, on Tuesday night in Chicago, he finally found himself back on the scorer’s sheet, netting the first goal of the game. In just 13 career games against the Blues, Lee has registered 9 points (5 goals and 4 assists). 

The Blues haven’t done much scoring so far in 2022-23. However, Brayden Schenn has done his part, leading all forwards in points with nine. He also has seven points in his last nine games against the Islanders so will definitely be someone that New York should keep their eye on throughout the night. 

Projected Lines

Islanders

Josh Bailey-Mathew Barzal-Oliver Wahlstrom
Anders Lee-Brock Nelson-Anthony Beauvillier
Zach Parise-JG Pageau-Kyle Palmieri
Ross Johnston-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck

Adam Pelech-Ryan Pulock
Alexander Romanov-Noah Dobson
Sebastian Aho-Scott Mayfield

Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov

Blues

Brayden Schenn-Ryan O'Reilly-Noel Acciari
Pavel Buchnevich-Ivan Barbashev-Vladimir Tarasenko
Jake Neighbours-Robert Thomas-Jordan Kyrou
Alexey Toropchenko-Logan Brown-Tyler Pitlick

Torey Krug-Justin Faulk
Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko
Nikko Mikkola-Robert Bortuzzo

Jordan Binnington
Thomas Greiss

*Lineups via Daily Faceoff