After a 5-1 romp of the Boston Bruins on Saturday, the New York Islanders (26-20-14) host the St. Louis Blues (32-26-3) in their final matchup of the season.
Puck drop from UBS Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
St. Louis took the first meeting from the Islanders on Feb. 22, besting them 4-0 at Enterprise Center. Three second-period goals in 1:32 were the difference in the game, as Jordan Binnington pitched a 38-save shutout in the victory. The Blues enter play on Tuesday five points out of the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, held by the Nashville Predators.
Where They've Been:
The Blues visit Long Island on the second game of a back-to-back, facing the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night. Scott Laughton opened the scoring in the first period, but Kevin Hayes had the answer for Philadelphia in the second. Neither team found the back of the net in the third period or the ensuing overtime, resulting in a shootout. In the skills contest, Jake Neighbours and Morgan Frost traded strikes, but the Blues got the win on a goal by Pavel Buchnevich.
With the shootout loss, Philadelphia now sits six points ahead of the Islanders for the third playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.
Players to Watch:
Ilya Sorokin will make his fifth-straight start and 44th start of the season on Tuesday night (20-13-11, 3.06 GAA, .910 SV%). He made 22 saves in the Islanders' win over the Bruins but did not face the Blue in their first meeting. In three career games, he is 2-1-0 with a 2.68 GAA and .912 SV%, last surrendering five goals on 26 shots in a 7-4 loss on Dec. 6, 2022.
Kyle Palmieri tallied a hat trick on Saturday, giving him five points, three goals and two assists, in his last two games; Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Anders Lee and Bo Horvat also had two-point games.
Pageau leads the Islanders in goals against St. Louis with seven in 14 career games. Brock Nelson leads the team in assists with six, while Lee leads in points with 11.
Binnington started Monday night's game in Philadelphia, meaning Joel Hofer will likely make his 20th start of the season and first career start against the Islanders (10-10-0, 2.88 GAA, .911 SV%).
The 23-year-old is in the midst of his first full NHL season, last surrendering four goals on 32 shots in a loss to the Winnipeg Jets.
Buchnevich, who tallied a hat trick on Feb. 22 and the game-winner in the shootout on Monday, leads the Blues with 24 goals. Robert Thomas, who leads the team with 49 assists and 69 points, has a five-game point streak against New York with four goals and five assists in that span.
Two former Metropolitan Division rivals lead active Blues in scoring against New York. Hayes, a former New York Ranger and Philadelphia Flyer, has 12 goals to lead the team, while Brayden Schenn, their captain and a former Flyer, leads in assists and points with 16 and 23, respectively.
New York Islanders Projected Lines:
Brock Nelson - Bo Horvat - Mathew Barzal
Anders Lee - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Kyle Palmieri
Pierre Engvall - Casey Cizikas - Simon Holmstrom
Matt Martin - Kyle MacLean - Cal Clutterbuck
Alexander Romanov - Ryan Pulock
Adam Pelech - Noah Dobson
Mike Reilly - Sebastian Aho
Ilya Sorokin
Semyon Varlamov
St. Louis Blues Projected Lines:
Pavel Buchnevich - Robert Thomas - Jordan Kyrou
Brandon Saad - Brayden Schenn - Jake Neighbours
Zachary Bolduc - Kevin Hayes - Alexey Toropchenko
Nikita Alexandrov - Oskar Sundqvist - Nathan Walker
Nick Leddy - Colton Parayko
Torey Krug - Justin Faulk
Marco Scandella - Tyler Tucker
Joel Hofer
Jordan Binnington
How to Watch:
Tuesday's game is an ESPN+ and Hulu exclusive broadcast. On the radio, the contest will air on 88.7 FM WRHU, 103.9 LI News Radio and 1050 AM ESPN.