Sat Oct 11 10:55:59 2008

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Blues hope for another offensive outburst versus Islanders

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(Sports Network) - Any concerns about the Blues' ability to score goals this season may have already been put to rest. Coming off a five-goal outburst, St. Louis travels to New York to battle the Islanders tonight at Nassau Coliseum.

St. Louis began its season with a bang on Friday, as Keith Tkachuk had two of the Blues' four power-play goals in a 5-2 victory over Nashville. Brad Boyes, coming off a 43-goal season last year, also scored, as did Barret Jackman and David Backes.

Paul Kariya, Andy McDonald and David Perron each had two assists in the win, while Manny Legace stopped 20-of-22 shots for St. Louis.

Backup netminder Chris Mason, though, will start tonight's game in what will be his St. Louis debut. Mason was acquired by the Blues in the offseason from Nashville after going 18-22-6 with a 2.90 goals against average in 51 games a year ago. He has never faced the Islanders.

The victory was the first for the Blues in a season opener since a 4-2 triumph over Colorado in 1996. The club had dropped its last 10 season openers before last night's win.

The Islanders also kicked their season off on Friday, but unlike the Blues they fell in defeat, 2-1, in New Jersey versus the Devils.

Doug Weight recorded a goal in his first game with the Islanders, who were just 1-for-6 on the power play.

With franchise goaltender Rick DiPietro recovering from offseason hip surgery, first-year New York head coach Scott Gordon elected to start Joey MacDonald in the team's opener. MacDonald stopped 27 shots in the loss.

Gordon said DiPietro is day-to-day, meaning he could start tonight's game. DiPietro is 2-2-1 with a 2.99 GAA in five career starts versus the Blues, while MacDonald lost his only career start against them despite allowing just one goal.

These two clubs did not meet last year, and the Blues have won three of the last four meetings. That includes a 3-2 overtime win in New York in the last meeting on March 1, 2007. St. Louis has won its last three as the visitor against the Islanders.