Columbus moved within two points of the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. New York is one point back of Montreal, which has a game in hand on each team.
“We didn't play well in the third. We were outstanding in the first,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “We were good in the second. We didn't give much. They scored those two goals, that tip on (Noah) Dobson, but other than this, I thought we had a strong game. But in the third period, we stopped playing in their zone. We stopped playing simple. [We weren’t] quick on the wall, bringing the puck [up]. We lost a lot of battles. We had a power play to start (the period), and I didn't think we competed hard enough to get those pucks, and I thought that was the difference in the game. But overall, we played well enough. We should have won that game.”
Engvall gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 13:16 of the first period. Skating in on a rush, Engvall slowed up at the top of the right circle and cut toward the slot, where he beat Merzlikins glove side with a wrist shot.
Palmieri made it 2-0 at 18:41. He received a pass from Bo Horvat, who was in the left corner, as he was cutting down the slot and scored glove side on Merzlikins.
Fantilli cut the lead to 2-1 at 5:31 of the second period. He used Dobson as a screen on a rush and beat Sorokin over his glove from the top of the left circle.
Jenner tied it 2-2 with a short-handed goal at 17:13, scoring with a wrist shot from above the right circle that deflected off Dobson’s leg and fluttered past Sorokin's blocker.
Lee put the Islanders back in front 3-2 at 19:12 after Mike Reilly’s slap shot from the left boards deflected off his leg at the top of the crease. Columbus challenged the play for goaltender interference, but the call stood after a video review.
New York outshot Columbus 27-11 through two periods before being outshot 17-4 in the third.
“The guys were saying all the right things on the bench, between periods, and we just reinforced that it wasn’t from a lack of trying,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “We were just trying to score, trying to do too much, way too much instead of just simplifying our game and getting after it and doing what we did in the last two periods as far as getting pucks deep, getting after it and doing what we do. It’s not a negative that they’re trying their butts off to score goals and to win hockey games and get two points, but you still have to go about it intelligently. They adjusted themselves and played it the right way.”
Marchenko tied the game 3-3 at 12:56 of the third period with a slap shot from the top of the right circle that beat Sorokin blocker side through a screen.
