ST. LOUIS (AP) — Justin Faulk scored twice in a 96-second span in the second period and Jordan Binnington made 29 saves to lift the St. Louis Blues to their fifth straight victory with a 6-1 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday night.
Nick Leddy, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ivan Barbashev and Robert Thomas also had goals for St. Louis.
Grant Hutton scored his first NHL goal for the Islanders, who had won five of their previous six.
Binnington, who lost the No. 1 spot to Ville Husso, recorded his first win since Feb. 27 and improved to 14-13-4.
The Blues jumped in front on first-period goals by Leddy and Tarasenko. They have recorded at least one point in each of their last eight games (7-0-1) and have scored at least four goals in each game during that streak.
Leddy, acquired from Detroit on March 21, blasted a wrist shot from the high slot at 14:21 to kick-start the attack. It was his second goal with his new team. He played the previous seven seasons with the Islanders.
Tarasenko pounced on the rebound of a shot from the point by Colton Parayko just under three minutes later for his team-best 26th goal.
Faulk, a defenseman, muscled back-to-back shots past Semyon Varlamov early in the second period for a 4-0 lead.
Thomas, who also added two assists, extended his career-best point streak to nine games with his 18th goal of the season late in the second period. He has six goals and 11 assists during the streak.
New York, which completed a five-game road trip, was coming off a 2-1 win at Carolina on Friday.
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The Blues moved past Minnesota and into second place in the Central Division with a two-point lead over the Wild. Minnesota has played two fewer games.
DISCIPLINARY ACTION
Islanders C Casey Cizikas served a one-game suspension from the NHL for a high hit on Brendan Smith in the third period of Friday’s game at Carolina.
NOTES: St. Louis LW Brandon Saad played in his 700th NHL game. … Blues LW Mackenzie MacEachern missed the game with an upper-body injury.
UP NEXT
Islanders: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.
Blues: Face the Bruins in Boston on Tuesday night.
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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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