The New York Islanders were shut out by the St. Louis Blues Thursday night at Enterprise Center.
Pavel Buchnevich scored his fourth career hat trick, while Brandon Saad added a goal to the Blues’ total as well. Jordan Binnington stopped all 38 shots that came his way for his third shutout of the season and the 15th of his career.
The Islanders didn’t provide Semyon Varlamov with much support in net, as he made 21 saves on 24 shots.
But that’s just the box score. Here are the key takeaways from the night that was under the Arch.
3 Goals, 32 Seconds:
The Blues kicked in the Islanders’ doors to start the middle frame, scoring three times in a span of 32 seconds for the three fastest goals in franchise history.
Brandon Saad broke a scoreless tie by tapping in a back door feed from Oskar Sundqvist on the power play for his 16th goal of the year at 4:48 of the second period. Seven seconds later, Pavel Buchnevich scored off the ensuing faceoff as he snuck in behind the Islander’s defense to quickly make it 2-0.
Before the public address announcer inside Enterprise Center finished announcing the goal by Saad, Buchnevich struck again for his 21st goal of the season.
Buchnevich later completed the hat trick by scoring on an empty net with more than 10 minutes remaining in the third period after the Islanders pulled the goalie to create a man advantage with the two sides playing four-on-four.
Failing To Finish:
It’s not as if the Islanders didn’t have scoring chances of their own.
But every time they threatened, Jordan Binnington was there to make a save as he appeared to get stronger in his create as the night went on. Kyle Palmieri was left looking up at the ceiling multiple times after pushing his way to the net front just for Binnington to stall him with a pad save.
Mathew Barzal nearly ruined the shutout bid in the third period as he walked into the slot with a grade-A chance, but his wrist shot was snagged out of the air by Binnington’s glove.
It was the eighth time this season the Islanders lost a game in which they held the advantage in shots on goal.
Power Play Problems:
The Islanders were afforded three power play opportunities in the first period alone and finished the evening 0-5 on the man advantage despite throwing 16 shots on goal with an extra attacker.
They have now failed to score on the power play in 10 of their last 15 games and are 7-41 over that span.
Missed Opportunity:
With the New Jersey Devils and Tampa Bay Lightning both losing in regulation tonight, the Islanders had a golden opportunity to gain some ground in the wildcard race. Instead, they stay stuck at 60 points and remain outside the playoff picture after falling in St. Louis.
Up Next:
With their record now 23-19-14, the Islanders return home to UBS Arena for another must-win game on Saturday at 2 p.m. when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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