UNIONDALE, N.Y. – Islanders defenseman Andrew MacDonald scored two rare goals, John Tavares and P.A. Parenteau both had a goal and an assist in the first period, and the New York Islanders sent the sinking St. Louis Blues to their fourth straight loss with a 5-2 victory on Saturday.
MacDonald, who entered his 100th NHL game with only three career goals, scored his third in two games. Each goal Saturday gave the Islanders a three-goal lead.
Al Montoya made 21 saves, giving up Andy McDonald's 14th of the season 3:26 into the third period that made it 3-1 and Chris Stewart's power-play tally that brought the Blues within 4-2 with 9:42 remaining.
The Islanders held on to win their second in a row at home over Western Conference opponents following an overall four-game skid (0-2-2). Rookie Michael Grabner put this one away with 7:35 left, netting his 26th.
St. Louis is 1-7 in its last eight games, falling to 13th in the West and well out of the playoff chase.
Ben Bishop, who at 6-foot-7 is the NHL's tallest goalie, made his fourth start in five games and stopped 17 shots for the Blues. He had an eventful first period in which he allowed two goals and nearly got victimized when he got caught well out of the net by Parenteau.
Parenteau beat Bishop to a loose puck inside the blue line, skated around the goalie in open ice, but then shot wide from a tough angle instead of skating closer to the vacated net. It didn't matter because Parenteau was on the mark the rest of the period.
He made a brilliant pass behind his back to Tavares, while falling, after taking a quick look over his shoulder. Parenteau's feed from the right-wing boards caught Tavares in stride as he streaked down the middle of the St. Louis zone. Tavares made a move to get around T.J. Oshie, shifted to his backhand, eluded defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, and shoved a backhander inside the right post at 9:12 for his 24th goal.
Unhappy with his team's sluggish start, Blues coach Davis Payne burned his timeout but got little in return.
Parenteau was the beneficiary of a great pass to make it 2-0. Tavares nudged the puck in the neutral zone to Grabner, who carried it down the left side and sent a feed in front to Parenteau for a quick redirection with 50.1 seconds remaining.
MacDonald stretched the Islanders' lead to 3-0 with 7:11 left in the second on New York's 12th shot. Josh Bailey did most of the work leading up to it, creating chances in front and keeping the puck alive in the St. Louis zone throughout his shift.
Bailey got the puck to Matt Martin in the left circle as he fell, and Martin spotted MacDonald free at the center of the blue line. MacDonald took the pass and fired a slap shot past Bishop.
Notes: MacDonald has four goals in 51 games this season. ... The Blues were the only team the Islanders hadn't faced this season. New York went 8-5-5 against the West and will play only Eastern Conference clubs in its final 16 games. It is the second straight season the Islanders had a winning record vs. Western opponents. ... Blues D Ian Cole, recalled from Peoria (AHL) on Friday was in the lineup in place of D Roman Polak.
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