Merzlikins makes 26 saves in shutout win against Islanders

COLUMBUS -- Elvis Merzlikins made 26 saves for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 2-0 win against the New York Islanders at Nationwide Arena on Wednesday.

It was the second straight strong outing for Merzlikins; he came within 27 seconds of his 11th NHL shutout on Monday before the Edmonton Oilers scored a power-play goal in a 6-1 win.

“It feels really good to win the game right now,” he said. “We just have to keep working as hard as we are working now. Just take it game-by-game, step-by-step, and move forward.

“It’s obviously a nice feeling to get the shutout. It’s definitely not just me. It’s the team. They are helping me a lot. They’re really working hard for this. This is our shutout. It could be two in a row.”

Damon Severson and Justin Danforth scored for the Blue Jackets (5-3-1), who are 3-0-1 in the past four games.

Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves for the Islanders (3-5-2), who have lost four of five (1-4-0), including 3-1 to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.

“We deserve to be disappointed because we played a really good game,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “Back-to-back games like this, coming up with that kind of game. I thought we deserved better than that.

“I know how hard our guys are working. We're going to the net, bringing pucks to the net. The bounces just aren't going our way. There were great chances but we just couldn't finish. The guys know that.”

Severson gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at 5:43 of the third period when his wrist shot from a tight angle below the right circle deflected in off the skate of Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock.

“I just got lucky, hitting the D-man's skate,” Severson said. “We grinded our way through that one. We had chances, they had chances. It was kind of back and forth there. Both goalies played solid. It was nice to get that one late there.”

Islanders forward Bo Horvat said the game is one to learn from.

“You can call it puck luck all you want or unfortunate bounce, but at the end of the day, it’s the difference every night. It’s on us in here to get it done, including myself,” he said. “I’ve had so many opportunities to score and it hasn’t gone in. It’s up to me to fight through that and bury my opportunities.”

Danforth scored an empty-net goal at 17:57 for the 2-0 final.

“It's nice to have that heat at the end and the guys come through,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “Elvis was terrific all night, made some key saves. We did a lot of right things at the end to hold a one- and two-goal lead.”

The Islanders were shut out for the fourth time this season.

“It’s definitely not our goaltending,” Horvat said. “It’s definitely not their fault. It’s on us. We’ve got to score goals at the end of the day.”

NOTES: Adam Fantilli, Mathieu Olivier and Kirill Marchenko of the Blue Jackets each had his three-game point streak end. … Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov missed his third straight game due to an upper-body injury.