Stop The Skid, Gm 52: Islanders vs. Blues, Game Notes & More

After dropping the first game of the homestand on Thursday, the New York Islanders (20-23-8) host the St. Louis Blues (32-15-6) for a Saturday matinee. Puck drop is slated for 12:30 PM ET at UBS Arena.

“For me, the effort’s there and they’re a really good group to work with, but we’re not getting the results,” New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said following the 4-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. “And we’re working, you know, we’re working our tails off and we’re not getting results.”

Trotz will be speaking to the media around 11:15 am as we will get updates on the status of Mathew Barzal and Zdeno Chara. As of now, they are still day to day.

Semyon Varlamov made his 15th start of the season on Thursday, a 4-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. It is expected that Ilya Sorokin will start in goal Saturday against the St. Louis Blues.

The St. Louis Blues have not played since Wednesday, a 5-3 loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Blues netminder Ville Husso turned aside 24 of 28 shots in the loss.

Jordan Binnington is expected to get the start.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS LINEUP (PROJECTED)

Parise–Pageau–Palmieri

Lee–Nelson–Beauvillier

Bellows–Bailey–Wahlstrom

Martin–Cizikas–Clutterbuck

Pelech–Mayfield

Greene–Dobson

Aho–Pulock

Sorokin

Varlamov

ST. LOUIS BLUES LINEUP (PROJECTED)

Saad–O’Reilly–Perron

Buchnevich–Thomas–Tarasenko

Kyrou–Schenn–Barbashev

Kostin–Bozak–Sundqvist

Mikkola–Parayko

Wallman–Bortuzzo

Husso

Binnington

GAME NOTES

The New York Islanders host the St. Louis Blues today, in the first of two matchups between the two clubs this season. It has been more than two years since these teams last met at Enterprise Center on February 27, 2020.

Today’s game is the Islanders’ sixth consecutive Western Conference matchup and second of eleven home games they will play this month.

The last time they hosted the Blues was on October 14, 2019, when Brock Nelson recorded a goal and an assist to help the Islanders win in overtime.

Today is the first of five matinee games the Islanders will play in March.

Who’s Hot?

St. Louis Blues forward, and 2022 NHL All-Star Jordan Kyrou has seven points in his last five games with three goals and four assists. New York Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau has five points in his last five games with two goals and three assists.

BETTING CORNER

The New York Islanders are the home underdogs against the St. Louis Blues at +125. They are -215 on the reverse puck line. The Blues come in at -150 and +172 on the puck line.

The over for this game is set at 5.5, with the over at -105 and the under at -115. These lines are subject to change.

HOW TO WATCH:

Saturday’s contest will be available on MSG+ (local). The game will also be on NHL Network (national).  On the radio dial, the game can be heard on 1050 AM ESPN, 88.7 FM WRHU and 103.9 FM LI News Radio.