Early look The full preview opens on Monday 22 March, three days before puck drop, with the expected goalies, the latest team news and game-day prices. Until then this page shows the matchup as it stands.
Early look · NHL 2026-27

New York Islanders at St. Louis Blues: game preview

Puck drop25 Mar · 8:00 PM ET
VenueEnterprise Center
All-time meetings128 completed
BasisLast 5 meetings + 2025-26
The thesis

Five points apart last season

NY Islanders finished last season 19th in the league on 91 points. St. Louis finished 22nd on 86.

Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.

Head-to-head

Meeting number 129

Across 128 completed games, NY Islanders lead the head-to-head 70-46-12.

All-time record70-46-12NY Islanders's record in the series
Meetings played128This is number 129
2025-26 series—
Last 53-2NY Islanders
DateResultShotsPower playWinner
10 Mar 2026NYI 4 – STL 3 OT——NYI
22 Nov 2025STL 2 – NYI 1——STL
23 Nov 2024STL 1 – NYI 3——NYI
17 Oct 2024NYI 0 – STL 1 OT——STL
5 Mar 2024STL 2 – NYI 4——NYI
Head-to-head finder

The table on each 2025-26 meeting night

DateNY IslandersSt. Louis
22 Nov 202512-8-2 · 26 pts11th7-9-6 · 20 pts29th
10 Mar 202637-23-5 · 79 pts10th25-29-10 · 60 pts28th

League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 22 Nov 2025, NY Islanders were 11th in the league and St. Louis 29th. By 10 Mar 2026 it was 10th and 28th.


Where the shots come from · last 5 meetings

NY Islanders out-attempted St. Louis 135 to 97

Every attempt from the last meetings, both teams shooting right.

New York Islanders

135 att · 80 on goal · 5 G · 6.3%
Crease19 att · 2 G
Slot45 att · 3 G
Wing54 att · 0 G
Point15 att · 0 G
Neutral zone2 att · 0 G

St. Louis Blues

97 att · 45 on goal · 5 G · 11.1%
Crease9 att · 1 G
Slot42 att · 3 G
Wing36 att · 1 G
Point9 att · 0 G
Neutral zone1 att · 0 G
GoalOn goalMissedBlocked

Expected goals

St. Louis have created the better chances, last 10 games

Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.

NY IslandersSt. Louis
2.90xG for per game2.69
3.70xG against per game3.33
44.0%xG share44.7%
+0.3FinishingGoals minus expected goals−1.1
+4.1GoaltendingExpected goals against minus goals allowed−0.0

This season: 3 games for NY Islanders, 3 for St. Louis. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.

Every team’s xG →


Special teams

Power play and penalty kill, season and series

This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.

All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings

NY Islanders

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2718.2%
Power play · 2025-2616.5% · 30th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2783.3%
Penalty kill · 2025-2680.8% · 10th
Faceoffs · 2026-2749.1% · 81/165
Drawn · 2026-2711 (3.67/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2712 (4.00/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

St. Louis

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2712.5%
Power play · 2025-2617.6% · 26th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2790.0%
Penalty kill · 2025-2676.7% · 25th
Faceoffs · 2026-2744.6% · 83/186
Drawn · 2026-278 (2.67/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2710 (3.33/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Skaters

Skaters to watch

Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away.

PlayerGPGAPP/GP
10Brayden Schenn31341.33
14Bo Horvat32131.00
53Casey Cizikas31120.67
83Mason McTavish32020.67
15Dalibor Dvorsky32020.67
Points leaders
PlayerGPGAPP/GP
8Logan Stanley30220.67
3Adam Pelech30110.33
55Colton Parayko30110.33
Defencemen stats

Goaltending

Who has stopped this matchup

Save percentage in the last meetings by goalie. Starters are confirmed on game day.

Expected startersAn estimate until the teams confirmEvery game tonight →

Expected starter after their game on 21 Mar: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Expected starter after their game on 23 Mar: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

NY Islanders crease

NYI · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 22 Mar

Ilya Sorokin.9682 GP · 1-1-0 · GSAx +4.1
Semyon Varlamov.8641 GP · 0-1-0 · GSAx +0.4

No appearances against St. Louis in the last meetings.

St. Louis crease

STL · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 22 Mar

Joel Hofer.9552 GP · 1-1-0 · GSAx +2.8
Jordan Binnington.8331 GP · 0-1-0 · GSAx −2.5

No appearances against NY Islanders in the last meetings.


Totals

Scoring rates point to about 5.8 goals

No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.

Goals in the last 5 meetings

10 Mar 20267 · NYI 4–3 STL
22 Nov 20253 · STL 2–1 NYI
23 Nov 20244 · STL 1–3 NYI
17 Oct 20241 · NYI 0–1 STL
5 Mar 20246 · STL 2–4 NYI

Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.

Scoring rates

Team26-27 GF26-27 GA25-26 GF25-26 GA
NY Islanders3.002.332.842.94
St. Louis2.333.332.823.15

Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.

Scoring rates suggest5.8Goals in this game
Last 5 meetings4.2Goals per game
Line—No total posted yet
Books at the line—With the game-day prices

Team news

6 on the injury lists

NY Islanders · injuries

Alexander RomanovUndisclosedDay-to-dayReturn8 Oct
Mathew BarzalKneeIRReturn10 Oct

St. Louis · injuries

Alexey ToropchenkoUpper BodyIRReturn14 Nov
Felix TrudeauUndisclosedIRReturn10 Oct
Logan MaillouxHandIRReturn25 Nov
Tyler TuckerKneeIRReturn12 Nov
27 Sep · NYI

Agreed to terms with LD Logan Stanley on a 1-Year contract worth $1.5M. Placed G Vitek Vanecek on waivers with the intention of sending to Hamilton (AHL)

26 Sep · NYI

Waived Fs Tanner Fritz, Matt Luff and Nathan Chaffee. Waived Fs Dylan Foudy and Hudson Kuefler for the purpose of sending to Hamilton (AHL).

24 Jul 2026 · NYI

Signed F Alex Jefferies to a one-year contract.

5 Oct · STL

Placed LW Alexey Toropchenko on injured reserve.

27 Sep · STL

Placed G Georgii Romanov and D Calle Rosen on waivers. Claimed RD Justin Barron off waivers.

19 Sep · STL

Placed D Marc Andre Gaudet was placed on waivers.

Injury report

NY Islanders · 2026 draft

See all: NY Islanders · 2026 draft →
#13Malte GustafssonRound 1 · Hv71D
#109Lincoln KuehneRound 4 · Arizona StateD
#141Vladimir DraveckyRound 5 · BrantfordD
#173Artyom MatyukRound 6 · Nizhny Novgorod Jr.C
Full draft
#11Tynan LawrenceRound 1 · Boston UniversityC
#16Maddox DagenaisRound 1 · QuebecC
#75Luke SchairerRound 3 · Usa U-18D
#107Landon NyczRound 4 · UmassD
Full draft

Updated after every final