Takeaways From Blues’ Late Game Scare Against Islanders

Pius Suter ended his nine-game goal drought late in the second period, giving the Blues a 2–0 lead. The goal came off another great team play: Kyrou passed to Holloway, who got off a close-quarters shot, and Suter cleaned up the rebound.

Binnington Was Outstanding

The Blues’ goaltending has come a long way since the start of the season. Binnington finished with a 30-save performance, keeping the Blues in the game. A key save came late in the third, with 26.8 seconds left, when he slid across the crease to make a stellar glove stop that could have tied the game for the Islanders. He saved 13 shots in the third period.

Broberg Came To Play

Philip Broberg just couldn’t get off the ice. He finished with 27:58 of total ice time, beating his career high of 27:09 set just a couple weeks ago against Buffalo. Even more impressive — 25:04 of that came at 5v5. That’s a ton of minutes, but Broberg stayed strong, moving, blocking a couple shots and helping keep the Blues in the game.

Two Goal Leads For The Blues Are Scary

The Blues have become known for blowing two-goal leads late in games, and walking away with a loss. Saturday, they got the win — but it was a scary finish. The Flyers pulled Ilya Sorokin with around four minutes left in the third, and at 3:20, Anders Lee scored on the 6-on-5 advantage. Lee won a battle in front of the net against Faulk and was able to clean up the rebound.

That’s when the emotions shifted a bit — it looked like another blown lead might be on the way. The Islanders kept the man advantage the rest of the game, piling on constant pressure. They even put one in the net late, but it was immediately called off for goalie interference. During the chaos, Justin Faulk was called for high-sticking and received a double minor, giving the Islanders a power play for the rest of the game.

Luckily, the Blues held strong and were able to withstand the 6-on-4 pressure to secure the win.

Defensive Clinic

The Islanders may have outshot the Blues 31–22, but only nine of those were grade-A scoring chances. The Blues’ defense did a great job getting in the way and using their sticks to disrupt plays. Their positioning in the D-zone was solid, not allowing the Islanders to sneak off any dangerous looks. Overall, the Blues just seemed composed and ready for whatever the Islanders threw at them.

Overall

A total team effort by the Blues on Saturday helped them get back in the win column. It was also a big confidence boost for guys like Schenn, Suter, and Buchnevich, who all got on the stat sheet. The team showed they can play solid defense against a strong opponent. With two games left on the road, this is their first win of the trip, and hopefully it sparks some momentum to carry through the rest of the swing.