ST. LOUIS (AP) Pavel Buchnevich and Brandon Saad combined for three goals in a 32-second span in the second period, sending the Blues to a 4-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night.
Buchnevich also scored midway through the third, finishing his fourth career hat trick. Robert Thomas had three assists, and Jordan Kyrou had two.
āWe got the two points and thatās important,ā Buchnevich said. āAnybody can score. Good for your own confidence.ā
Jordan Binnington made 38 saves to earn career win No. 137, moving him into a tie with Curtis Joseph for third on the franchise wins list. It was Binningtonās third shutout of the season and No. 15 for his career.
āItās one day at a time,ā Binnington said. āThis league is too hard to get too high. Iāve experienced that. Just got to stay with it and just have that passion every day and remember what youāre working for.ā
The Blues had dropped two in a row and three of four overall.
Semyon Varlamov made 21 saves for the Islanders, who fell to 1-2-2 in their last five games.
āDo I feel good because we kept fighting out there?ā Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. āYes, I do. But I mean, thereās one thing weāre going to have is weāre going to have to stop shooting in our own foot, night after night. I mean, we played well enough to win tonight. Thereās no doubt in my mind, but I mean, weāre making critical mistakes at the wrong time.ā
St. Louis grabbed control with its scoring outburst in the second. It was the fastest three goals in franchise history, surpassing the previous best of 36 seconds against Tampa Bay on April 15, 1993.
Saad scored a power-play goal at 4:38 for his 16th on the season. Buchnevich then got the next two at 4:45 and 5:10 for the fastest two goals by a Blues player since Pavol Demitra in 25 seconds on Nov. 11, 2000.
āIt happened pretty quick,ā said Thomas, who assisted on all three of Buchnevichās goals. āI think itās going to be a tough record to beat. That was pretty special.ā
Buchnevich scored his 22nd goal on an empty-netter 9:21 into the third, after New York pulled Varlamov for an extra skater during a two-minute stretch of 4-on-4 following coincidental minors.
āI think the whole line was contributing to that, but itās good to see him get some bounces,ā Binnington said of Buchnevich. āHeās a happy guy, so itās fun.ā
Binnington showed a quick glove on a point-blank chance for Mathew Barzal late in the third. Barzal had his season-long point streak snapped at eight games.
āBinner was outstanding,ā Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. āWe made it way more difficult on him and ourselves than it needed to be. He played outstanding.ā
Each team killed off a pair of power plays in the first. Kyle Palmieri nearly gave the Islanders the lead when his shot during the second man advantage caromed off the post and skirted across the goal line.
Binnington made a save on an Anders Lee breakaway a minute into the second period.
āYouāre going to have nights like that where youāre playing really good hockey and you canāt find a way to get one, but at the same time we had to find three and I think thatās the bigger picture here tonight is we failed to get out of that minute,ā Lee said of the Blues' scoring outburst. āSo, you know, our line went out there and didnāt get it done and had two against us in crucial moments. So thatās the part thatās frustrating that we didnāt execute that.ā
Zack Bolduc made his NHL debut for St. Louis, playing almost 10 minutes. The forward was selected by the Blues with the No. 17 pick in the 2021 draft.
UP NEXT
Islanders: Host Tampa Bay on Saturday.
Blues: Travel to Detroit on Saturday.
---
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Copyright 2024 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.