Islanders come up empty in listless loss to Blues

ST. LOUIS — Even if you are the sort of devoted fan who watches the Islanders in mid-October when both New York baseball teams have playoff games that clash with hockey, you might have changed the channel off this one. 

And when you returned to the game after leaving it at 0-0 at the end of the second period, without much having gone on through 40 minutes, you might not have been all too thrilled with what you saw. 

That would have been Blues 1, Islanders 0 — the second game of three on this road trip in which the Islanders were shut out — with Jake Neighbours scoring the overtime winner for St. Louis. 

“Obviously, we need to score goals to win,” Noah Dobson said. “I think we’ve generated lots. It just comes down to we gotta bear down, find our chances and we gotta capitalize. We’ve had our looks.” 

Instead of getting on the plane feeling good, the Islanders trudged on home at 1-1-2, a record that might be slightly harsh for how they’ve looked, but a result Thursday that reflected the game pretty well in the end. 

The Islanders looked reluctant to shoot at times over the first three games, but the fourth was a night when they reverted to playing defensive hockey and paid the price.