Islanders move into second wild-card spot after beating Blue Jackets
The Islanders are back in a playoff spot. The New York Islanders have moved into a playoff spot after a 4-2 victory over the Blue Jackets. The win, combined with the Capitals losing to the Penguins, was their third consecutive win. The Islanders' dominance in puck possession and attempts led to their victory. Starting goalie Daniil Tarasov was injured in the first period and was replaced with Jet Greaves. The Blue Jackets, already without key players Johnny Gaudreau, Boone Jenner, Patrik Laine, Adam Fantilli, and No. 1 netminder Elvis Merzlikins, lost their starting goalie to an upper-body injury. Semyon Varlamov is likely to face the playoff-bound Predators on Saturday night. The Park at UBS Arena will offer free skating and skate rentals on all game and event days starting on Saturday.
Published : 4 weeks ago by Andrew Gross - Newsday (TNS) in Sports
The Islanders are back in a playoff spot.
Two third-period goals, including a clinching empty-netter from Kyle Palmieri with 38.0 seconds remaining, powered a 4-2 win over the Blue Jackets on Thursday night in Columbus, Ohio, for their third straight win. It was a deserved win given the Islanders’ dominance in puck possession and attempts.
Coupled with the Capitals losing to the visiting Penguins, the Islanders (34-27-15) moved into the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot (which, right now, would mean a first-round matchup with the Rangers). They moved one point ahead of the Capitals while also matching the 83 points the Flyers have in holding third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Defenseman Noah Dobson, with his first goal in 14 games, gave the Islanders their third one-goal lead at 3:21 of the third period, taking Mathew Barzal’s feed and the skating room the Blue Jackets lgave him to move into the right circle.
The Eastern Conference-trailing Blue Jackets (25-39-12), already without core players Johnny Gaudreau, Boone Jenner, Patrik Laine, Adam Fantilli and No. 1 netminder Elvis Merzlikins, lost starting goalie Daniil Tarasov at 17:53 of the first period after he stopped 13 of 15 shots. Tarasov was hit in the head by the hip of teammate David Jiricek as the defenseman raced Pierre Engvall for the puck.
Tarasov needed support to wobble off the ice and to the Blue Jackets’ dressing room and was quickly ruled out with an upper-body injury.
That brought Jet Greaves, 23, in for his fifth NHL appearance. But Greaves (24 saves) kept the game tied at 2-2 heading into the first intermission stopping Engvall on a two-on-one rush in the waning seconds.
Greaves then stopped all 14 shots he faced in the second period as the score remained 2-2.
Engvall opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 7:53, getting to the crease to deflect defenseman Ryan Pulock’s point shot. But Brock Nelson slashed Alexandre Texier at 8:20 and the Blue Jackets tied it on Dmitri Voronkov’s power-play goal at the crease at 9:45.
Bo Horvat’s one-timer from the right circle off Mathew Barzal’s feed regained a 2-1 lead for the Islanders at 13:48 of the first period but Kirill Marchenko banked a shot off Sorokin’s mask from behind the net to make it 2-2 at 17:22.
Coach Patrick Roy said Semyon Varlamov, 4-1-1 in his last six starts, is likely to face the playoff-bound Predators on Saturday night at UBS Arena. “We know we’re going to need both goalies,” Roy said ... Defenseman Robert Bortuzzo drew back into the lineup for Sebastian Aho after being rested against Chicago as a healthy scratch ... The Islanders announced The Park at UBS Arena will be offering free skating and skate rentals on all game and event days starting on Saturday ... Forwards Hudson Fasching and Oliver Wahlstrom and defenseman Samuel Bolduc remained healthy scratches.
Topics: Columbus Blue Jackets