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National Hockey League
NY Islanders 4, Columbus 3
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Where: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Referees: Tom Chmielewski, Justin St. Pierre
Linesmen: Scott Cherrey, Kory Nagy
Attendance: 15557

Brock Nelson scored to begin a stretch of four unanswered goals by the visiting New York Islanders, who hung on Tuesday night to edge the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3.

Josh Bailey, Anthony Beauvillier and Zach Parise also scored for the Islanders, who scored all their goals in a span of 17-plus minutes bridging the first two periods. Goalie Semyon Varlamov made 42 saves as New York snapped a two-game losing streak.

Vladislav Gavrikov scored twice and Oliver Bjorkstrand had a goal for the Blue Jackets, who have lost four straight (0-2-2). Goalie Elvis Merzlikins recorded 25 saves.

The Blue Jackets took a brief lead 7:20 into the first when Varlamov deflected a shot by Patrik Laine but couldn't scramble back into position fast enough to stop Gavrikov from poking home the rebound beyond Varlamov's stick.

The Islanders began their flurry with a power-play goal fewer than five minutes later. Mathew Barzal's pass into the crease bounced off the skate of Anders Lee to Nelson. He put a shot past Gavrikov, who did a split to try to block the shot, and a sprawling Merzlikins with 8:13 remaining.

Bailey began and ended the sequence that led to the go-ahead goal 3:22 later. The right winger stole the puck from Adam Boqvist in the neutral zone and dished to Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who passed back to Bailey who scored from the middle of the slot.

The Islanders continued their surge 3:47 into the second when Nelson fired wide of the net before Beauvillier put back an odd-angle shot from the goal line. A stick-to-stick pass from Noah Dobson to Parise, the latter of whom was crashing the crease, extended the lead to 4-1 at the 9:10 mark.

The Blue Jackets began an attempted comeback with 6:28 left in the period, when Gavrikov backhanded the rebound of a shot by Jakub Voracek.

Bjorkstrand was credited with an unassisted goal 4:30 into the third, when Matt Martin got a stick on a pass by Boqvist but couldn't corral it before Bjorkstrand pounded on the puck and beat Varlamov.

The Blue Jackets almost tied the game with 6:45 left, when Jack Roslovic and Sean Kuraly peppered Varlamov before he smothered the puck just before it would have crossed the goal line. The Islanders withstood two shots by Columbus during a power play generated when Beauvillier was whistled for tripping with 2:35 remaining.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
NY Islanders   Columbus
Brock Nelson 2 Points Vladislav Gavrikov 2
Brock Nelson 1 Goals Vladislav Gavrikov 2
Mathew Barzal 2 Assists Patrik Laine 2
Brock Nelson 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Semyon Varlamov .933 Save Percentage Elvis Merzlikins .862
Semyon Varlamov 42 Saves Elvis Merzlikins 25
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
NY Islanders 29 4 1-4 3-3 6 23
Columbus 45 3 0-3 3-4 8 30
Upcoming Games
  • Columbus will play their next game on the road against NY Islanders. The Blue Jackets have a W/L % of .438 after a win and .514 after a loss.
  • NY Islanders will play their next game at home against Columbus. The Islanders have a W/L % of .357 after a win and .514 after a loss.