Columbus Blue Jackets Beat New York Islanders 4-2

The Blue Jackets beat the Islanders 4-2 as the Islanders came out slowly, and the slow start plagued them. The Blue Jackets came into this game as exactly a .500 team, in last place in the Metropolitan Division. However, every team in the division is in the playoff race, as the standings are so tight.

In an interdivision game, wins and losses are worth four points, so this game was an important win for the Islanders. Columbus is a difficult place to play. The Islanders lost both games they played last year, losing by a combined score of 8-1. Did you think the Islanders had a chance in this game?

Blue Jackets Beat Islanders Scoring Summary

The New York Islanders started a two-game road trip as they headed to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. The Islanders looked very good on Saturday night, shutting out the New York Rangers 2-0 as Anders Lee scored and Simon Holmstrom ended the scoring with an empty netter. David Rittich had a 27-save shutout for his ninth win of the season.

Columbus was coming off a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday. The Blue Jackets’ three goals were all on the power play, as Mason Marchment, who had two, and Kirill Marchenko scored. With the man advantage in a game where the Columbus power play went 3-for-7. Jet Greaves made 23 saves. Here is a scoring summary for tonight’s game.

In the first period, Marchenko scored to give Columbus a 1-0 lead. Then Maxim Shabanov scored for the Islanders, which made the score 1-1. That is how the first period ended.

In the second period, Horvat scored for the Islanders, giving them a 2-1 lead. It was his 20th goal of the season.

In the third period, Ivan Provorov scored for the Blue Jackets, tying the game at 2. Then, Marchenko scored for Columbus. They took a 3-2 lead. The Blue Jackets scored two goals in 1:14. Then, Cole Sillinger scored an empty net goal for Columbus to lead 4-2. That is how the game ended.

News and Notes

• The Isles are up 1-0-0 on the season series after a 3-2 win on November 2. Matthew Schaefer logged his first multi-goal game, and Simon Holmstrom scored in the win.
• Lee now has 299 career goals, so he is one goal away from the 300-goal milestone.
• Columbus is eighth in the Metropolitan Division with 36 points and is 3-6- 1 in their last 10 games. Blue Jackets’ captain Boone Jenner has five points in five games since returning from an upper-body injury that had sidelined him for 14 games.
• Zach Werenski leads the Blue Jackets in scoring with 40 points in his 10th season in Columbus. He was riding a five-game point streak with 10 points over that span, but he missed this game
• The Islanders rose to second place in the Metropolitan Division, though they are still three points behind the first-place Carolina Hurricanes. The top six teams in the Division are separated by seven points.
• The Islanders are 6-4-2 against divisional opponents this season.
• Horvat made his return to the lineup on Saturday after missing five games with a lower-body injury. Horvat took nine shots in 22:41 time on ice on a line with Jonathan Drouin and Emil Heineman.

Lineup Change

The Islanders made a lineup change for Sunday’s game. Anthony Duclair will be back in the lineup after sitting as a healthy scratch on Saturday. In a swap, Cal Ritchie will come out. Duclair was scratched to accommodate Horvat’s return to the lineup last night, but Islanders Head Coach Patrick Roy emphasized that the decision had nothing to do with dissatisfaction with how Duclair was playing, but rather a tough decision that the Islanders have to make with depth at forward.

Rittich Starts Back-to-Back

Roy confirmed that Rittich will make consecutive starts in the second game of the back-to-back set. Rittich is coming off a shutout on Saturday night against the Rangers. He has started both ends of a back-to-back, which he will do against the Blue Jackets, four times in his career, with a 2-1-1 record in the second half.

Rittich has been solid for the Islanders all season, but he has been great of late. He has saved 119 of 124 shots faced over his last four games for a .960 save percentage over that span. Saturday’s shutout was his second of the season for the Isles and ninth of his career. Starter Ilya Sorokin is on Injured Reserve retroactive to December 20.

Conclusion

The Blue Jackets are a difficult opponent, especially at home. The Islanders have a poor record playing in Columbus. They lost both games they played there last season by a combined score of 8-1. So, it was a good sign for the Islanders that they were able to stay in this game for so long. The Islanders play Tuesday at 8:30 in Chicago against the Blackhawks.