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Blues, Isles battle at the Coliseum

Mar 5, 2011 - 4:15 PM (Sports Network) - The St. Louis Blues will try to avoid a fourth straight loss when they visit the New York Islanders for today's afternoon battle at Nassau Coliseum.

The Blues have done considerable damage to their playoff hopes recently, losing three straight and six of their last seven games to fall 10 points out of a postseason spot in the Western Conference.

St. Louis was dealt a 3-2 setback in its most recent outing, dropping a regulation decision Thursday evening in Washington. Jason Arnott scored late in the third period to lift the Capitals to the home win at Verizon Center.

Alexander Steen and B.J. Crombeen lit the lamp for the Blues, while Ty Conklin stopped 27-of-30 shots.

Ben Bishop is expected to get the start in net for St. Louis today and he will try to rebound after allowing every goal in Tuesday's 6-0 home loss to Calgary.

St. Louis has an awful 10-16-5 record as the guest this season and has lost two straight and three of its last four road contests.

Meanwhile, the Islanders recently ended a four-game skid, but they are still 14 points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

New York lost both of its meetings with the Blues in 2009-10 and has dropped three of four and five of the last seven encounters in this series. St. Louis has also come out on top in four of its last five check matchup tilts on Long Island.

The Isles received two goals from Blake Comeau in Wednesday's 4-1 triumph over the visiting Minnesota Wild. Comeau halted a seven-game goal-scoring drought by notching his 16th and 17th markers of the season.

Kyle Okposo and Andrew MacDonald also scored for the Islanders. Al Montoya was solid between the pipes, stopping 33-of-34 shots in the win.

"He gave us a big momentum boost," MacDonald said of Montoya. "He was kicking rebounds to the corners. He was under control and you can't say enough about the way he played."

Montoya is expected to get the start again today for the Islanders. He has never started a game against St. Louis, but did play 20 minutes in a relief role versus the Blues while with Phoenix during the 2008-09 campaign.

New York is playing the second of five straight on home ice and the Isles have a 13-15-4 record as the host this season.

The Islanders will not have forward Trevor Gillies for the next 10 games after he was suspended Friday for his illegal hit to the head of Minnesota's Cal Clutterbuck. This marks the second lengthy suspension for Gillies this season. He was also banned nine games for his role in a brawl against Pittsburgh on Feb. 13.