Doug Weight returns to St. Louis as Islanders coach
The St. Louis Blues will get their first look at an old friend when they host the New York Islanders on Saturday night.
Doug Weight, a standout center for the Blues in the early part of the century, was elevated from assistant coach to interim head coach in mid-December. He replaced Jack Capuano, who was fired with the Islanders struggling along at 17-17-8.
The Islanders have responded well to the coaching change. They are 15-6-3 since Weight took over and 6-2-1 in their last nine.
Weight had 75 goals and 220 assists for 295 points in 364 games over parts of six seasons wearing the Blue Note.
Forward Josh Bailey hopes to continue his hot play as the Islanders complete a nine-game road trip. He tied a career high with three assists in New York's 4-3 overtime win over Vancouver on Thursday. He has a team-high 37 assists and 49 points this season. Bailey enters the game with 299 career points.
"He's really seeing the ice right now," Weight told NHL.com. "The puck is kind of following him. ... He's been a cornerstone and he's been a strong, strong player this year."
The Islanders (32-23-11) are in the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 75 points, one point ahead of Toronto.
The Blues (34-27-5), meanwhile, are in the last wild-card spot in the Western Conference with 73 points, three ahead of Los Angeles.
St. Louis enters Saturday's game on the heels of a last-minute, 4-3 victory over Anaheim on Friday night. Joel Edmundson's goal with 20 seconds left broke a tie and ran St. Louis' winning streak to three games.
But the Blues might be short a critical piece on their defense as Colton Parayko left the game in the second period with an undisclosed injury.
"It's something that we don't expect to be long term and it was more of a precautionary measure on our part to take him out," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "I would say that he's questionable right now for (Saturday)."
The injury left St. Louis with just five defensemen for the last period facing a quick turnaround against New York.
Every point is critical for the Blues, who are two points behind Nashville for third in the Central Division.
"We have to focus on tonight and we had to get the win and we were in a position to win the game so you run the bench accordingly," Yeo said. "Tomorrow is a new challenge and those guys played a lot, but those are character games and part of that is you play a little smarter."
