Islanders end road trip with lopsided loss to Blues
St. Louis Blues' Brandon Saad (20) reaches for a loose puck in front of Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov (40) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, April 9, 2022, in St. Louis. Credit: AP/Scott Kane
ST. LOUIS — Saturday was not kind to the Islanders and whatever remote playoff hopes remain.
They ended a five-game road trip by giving up four second-period goals in a 6-1 loss to the Blues at Enterprise Center, matching their largest margin of defeat this season. The Capitals beat the Penguins earlier in the day, so the Islanders are 13 points out of a playoff spot with 11 games left.
“We were brain-dead after the first [period],” coach Barry Trotz said. “We didn’t have enough fight in the dog. Once they got the third and fourth goals, we were just playing shinny.”
Trotz even drew a bench minor for throwing a stick on the ice at 5:41 of the second period while trying to get the referees’ attention to call a timeout after defenseman Justin Faulk scored the second of his two goals within a span of one minute, 36 seconds.
Rookie defenseman Grant Hutton, 26, scored his first NHL goal to cut the Blues’ lead to 5-1 at 18:41 of the second period.
Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves for the Islanders (33-29-9). Jordan Binnington stopped 30 shots for the Blues (42-20-10), who have won five straight and got their opening goal from former Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
