Blues at Islanders
The St. Louis Blues are expected to be without leading scorer Alex Steen when they wrap up a four-game road trip against the New York Islanders on Saturday afternoon. Steen scored his 26th goal before suffering a lower-body injury in Thursday's 2-1 win over the New York Rangers, which marked his fourth game back after sitting out 11 contests due to a concussion. "Anytime you lose a guy like Alex Steen, it's tough," Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. "He's been our guy this year."
The Islanders appeared on their way to a third consecutive victory after jumping out to a two-goal lead over Pittsburgh on Thursday, but they surrendered four unanswered tallies in an eventual 6-4 home loss. It marked only the fourth defeat in the last 14 games for New York, which is trying to claw its way back into the playoff picture and recover from a 10-game skid (0-7-3) earlier this season. St. Louis has won four of the last five matchups, including a 5-1 rout at home on Dec. 5.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), MSG Plus (New York)
ABOUT THE BLUES (34-11-5): St. Louis held Friday's practice at Yale University before attending that school's women's hockey game to honor the memory of Mandi Schwartz, the sister of Blues forward Jaden Schwartz. Mandi played for Yale in 2008 and died of leukemia in 2011. “We have a bunch of players that really genuinely like Jaden and his family, and we’ve got a lot of guys that are willing to do anything to help him out,” coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I think it’s going to be good for our players to see how much Mandi meant to that program, because she meant a ton to that program.”
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (21-25-7): Offense has not been an issue for New York, which has scored 16 goals over the last four games but has allowed 18 in the same span to give the club an Eastern Conference-worst 175 permitted. Thursday's game marked the 14th time the Islanders have led by at least two goals, but they have won only six times (6-4-4) in such situations. Captain John Tavares, who is riding a five-game point streak, has 10 goals and 15 assists in his last 15 contests to give him 63 points for the season - second to league leader Sidney Crosby.
OVERTIME
1. Blues G Jaroslav Halak will take a 10-3-1 road record into Saturday's game.
2. Islanders F Kyle Okposo has recorded two goals and four assists during his four-game point streak.
3. St. Louis has lost four of its last seven and been held to two goals or fewer six times in that stretch.