Blues recover from loss, whip Islanders 5-1

ST. LOUIS -- Alex Pietrangelo and the St. Louis Blues were eager to get back to work after a loss Tuesday night in Columbus, Ohio.

"It's a great answer after that game in Columbus," Pietrangelo said after picking up three assists in a 5-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

The Blues had dropped a 2-1 decision against the Blue Jackets, who have the NHL's worst record. It wasn't the result one of the top teams in the Western Conference expected.

"We were just really disappointed the other night in Columbus," said winger Andy McDonald, who scored his first goal of the season Thursday. "We just didn't have the effort we wanted in Columbus and we talked about before the game that we needed a big night tonight."

McDonald has played only six games after missing 51 with a concussion.

T.J. Oshie also had goal and an assist as he and Pietrangelo tied their career highs for points in a game. Kevin Shattenkirk, Jason Arnott and David Perron also scored.

Brian Elliott made 26 saves, allowing only Frans Nielsen's goal. Elliott has 19 victories this season.

"Our best player tonight was our goalie. Our goalie was terrific," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Our goalie was our best player the last game that we lost.

"We're giving up far too many chances. We're getting beat in areas that we haven't gotten beat at in all year and we're going to have to address it and get going, get a little bit better."

The Blues have points in a team-record 20 straight home games (17-0-3) and have 25 home wins, one more that the Detroit Red Wings for most in the league (25-3-4). They're 27-0-0 when scoring three goals or more.

Nielsen gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead 59 seconds into the game. The Blues came back in the period to grab a 2-1 lead on goals by Arnott and Shattenkirk.