The Islanders fall apart for 32 seconds in the second, en route to a 4-0 shutout loss to the Blues. Here's how it happened.
The New York Islanders had a tremendous opportunity to build on a shaky win Monday night but a defensive lapse in the second period led to a 4-0 win for the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.
Here's how it happened:
The Islanders and Blues traded power plays throughout the first period, with each side getting two due to four infarction penalties.
Neither side was able to light the lamp.
New York entered with the worst penalty kill in the league, but after going 3-for-3 down a man against the Penguins on Tuesday, they continued their strong structure to continue shutting the door.
However, things changed fast, as in a matter of 32 seconds, the Blues were up 3-0.
On the power play, Brandon Saad was left wide-open to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead at 4:38 of the first.
Seven seconds later, Pavel Buchnevich tapped one home off a feed from Robert Thomas before refilling a one-timer 25 seconds later at 5:10 of the second to make it 3-0.
Not only was that the fastest three goals in Blues history, but the second fastest three goals in NHL history.
Here is the defensive-zone positioning on those three goals:
The Islanders recorded 20 shots on goal in the middle frame but failed to find the back of the net.
Roy changed his lines in the second and kept the changes in the third, rocking this for the final 20-plus minutes:
The new bench boss elected to pull his goalie with 11:15 to play in the third, Noah Dobson rang the post before Buchnevich flipped a backhand from the natural zone into the empty cage for the hat trick at 9:21 of the third:
The Islanders couldn't solve Jordan Binnington, who stopped all 38 that came his way for his third shutout of the season.
UP NEXT: The Islanders host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon at 2 PM ET.
LINES:
Anders Lee - Bo Horvat - Mathew Barzal
Pierre Engvall.- Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri
Simon Holmstrom - JG Pageau - Oliver Wahlstrom
Matt Martin - Kyle MacLean - Cal Clutterbuck
Alex Romanov - Noah Dobson
Adam Pelech - Ryan Pulock
Mike Reilly - Scott Mayfield
Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin