3 Takeaways: Isles Beat Blue Jackets 4-2 

A dominant effort resulted in the New York Islanders third straight win, as they beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2 on Thursday night at Nationwide Arena.

A lot was on the line for the Islanders – including the opportunity to jump back into the playoff picture – and the Islanders got the job done with goals from Pierre Engvall, Bo Horvat, Noah Dobson (GWG) and Kyle Palmieri (ENG), while Mathew Barzal had two assists. Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves in his second straight start and win.

"I think these games, especially with just what's on the line, it's bringing the best of everyone," Barzal said after the win. "We stick together and we have guys in here that are willing to play in those big moments."

The Islanders (83 points) jumped back into a playoff spot, leapfrogging the Washington Capitals (82 points) for the final wild card spot in the East. The Isles got a little help from the Pittsburgh Penguins (81 points), who earned a 4-1 win over the Caps to allow the Islanders to sneak back into the playoff picture.

The Islanders also tied the Philadelphia Flyers (83 points), who occupy third place in the Metropolitan Division. While the Isles and Flyers have played an equal number of games, the Flyers hold the tiebreaker of regulation wins.

It’ll be a fight to the finish as five teams – Philadelphia, New York, Washington, Detroit (82 points) and Pittsburgh are separated by just three points.

ISLANDERS DOMINATE 60-MINUTE EFFORT:

The Islanders never trailed, never quit and were relentless in a high-stakes matchup. The 4-2 final betrayed how good the Isles were, as they outshot the Blue Jackets 41-27 and out-attempted them 88-51.

“I feel like we dominated,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “We controlled that game, and that’s what you want.”

It was a bit of a wild first period. The two teams traded power-play goals to open the scoring, but perhaps the whackiest moment was when Blue Jackets tied the score 2-2 in wild fashion. From behind the goal line, Marchenko banked a shot off Sorokin’s head and into the net to knot the score at two apiece at 17:22 of the first.

The game also saw a goalie change, as Daniil Tarasov left the game with an upper-body injury late in the first period after making 13 saves. Jet Greaves entered the game in relief, which marked his fifth NHL appearance. The Islanders tested Greaves, peppering the 23-year-old netminder with 25 shots and the inexperienced netminder was solid cool under fire, as he turned aside all but 24 of them.

"Their goalie made some big saves," Dobson said. "We were dangerous offensively, possessed the puck well."

Knotted at two through a scoreless middle frame, the Islanders kept pushing and putting quality shots on net outshooting the Blue Jackets 32-15 and outattempting them 59-32 after the first 40 minutes. The period was scoreless, but it was clear that all the momentum shifted to the Islanders. After 40 minutes, the Isles had more high-danger chances at five-on-five (18) than Columbus had shots on goal.

"We weren't we weren't able to take the lead in the second, but I thought we did a good job of coming out strong in the third, finding the lead and then playing with it," Ryan Pulock said.

Dobson broke the stalemate at 3:21 of the final frame, swiftly firing off a shot that bounced off the crossbar and into the net to take the third lead of the night for the Islanders.

Dobson has been contributing offense all season but has been on a dry spell as of late, entering the game with two assists in his last 13 outings. The game-winner on Thursday marked his third of the season. 

Palmieri buried an empty net goal to seal the deal with 38 seconds left in the game. It was Palmieri’s his 10th goal in 17 games and his 25th on the season, hitting the quarter-century mark for the first time since 2019-20.

The contest had an echoed Tuesday's 2-1 win over the Blackhawks, where the Islanders came out with quality chances to see it pay off in the final frame. 

“These two games now, we were able to stick with it and find a way in the third period," Dobson said. "Another huge win for our team.”

BARZAL REGISTERS TWO ASSISTS:

Barzal had a two-point night with two primary assists, helping lift the Islanders to their third straight win.

He made a nifty pass to Dobson in the Blue Jackets zone to set up the game-winning goal, whichcapped off his 18th multi-point game of the season.

Barzal’s chemistry with Bo Horvat was on full display as they teamed up to give the Isles a 2-1 lead in the first period. Barzal rushed in on the right of Tarasov and sent a nifty backhand pass to Horvat, who blasted a shot home from the circle at 13:48. The goal extended Horvat’s goal streak to three games, with Barzal picking up the primary assist on each of them.

POWER PLAY CONVERTS IN SECOND STRAIGHT GAME:

Roy touched on the importance of having two solid power-play units – weapons, as he called them – to rise to the occasion.

Though the first power-play unit had their chances, it was the second unit on the ice that was able to find the back of the net to open the scoring. Pulock’s shot from the point late in the power play was deflected in by Engvall at 7:35. The tally ended an 11-game goalless drought for the Swedish winger and marked the second straight game the Islanders converted on the power play.

"That was a nice tip by Pierre in the front of the net on that first one," Roy said. "I thought we generated well with those chances and moved the puck fairly well. Both units, I mean Casey and Pageau did a really good job hustling and hunting for those pucks, same thing with Nelson. I was pleased the way we played on the power-play."

The power play finished the game 1-for-3 and is now 2-for-5 in the past two games.

NEXT GAME:   

The Islanders return home to take on the Nashville Predators on Saturday night at UBS Arena. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.