Islanders make multiple comebacks to pick up crucial win
For 82 seconds in the second period Saturday, the Islanders held a lead. They had fought back from an early slumber to go up by a goal on the Blue Jackets, only to have it vanish and become a deficit again minutes later.
It made their second comeback and second lead — and then actually holding onto it — all the more rewarding.
Brock Nelson scored the winner at 5:14 of the third period and the Islanders buckled down for a white-knuckle ride from there to earn a crucial 4-3 win over the Blue Jackets at Barclays Center.
The Islanders’ (26-22-5) snapped a two-game skid that felt longer after they were crushed 9-1 over back-to-back nights coming out of the All-Star break. Saturday’s game had extra significance as it came against the Blue Jackets (27-21-4), one of the teams the Islanders are chasing in the Metropolitan Division for a playoff spot.
Nelson’s strike — only his second since Dec. 11 — came just after an Islanders power play expired and it sent the home crowd into a frenzy. Ryan Pulock fired a slap shot that Columbus goalie Joonas Korpisalo denied, but Andrew Ladd collected the rebound out front. He calmly slid the puck over to Nelson, who stopped it with his skate and tucked it away for the goal.
Jordan Eberle had tied the game less than three minutes earlier. The winger came flying down the seam and took a kick pass from Mathew Barzal, ripping a wrister that trickled through.
Islanders netminder Jaroslav Halak (46 saves) sealed the win by turning away a flurry of Blue Jackets shots on a late power play.
Halak was under siege again Saturday, a common theme in recent weeks. The league average for a team is 31.8 shots per game, but the Islanders haven’t allowed under that number since Dec. 19. They surpassed that mark at 9:36 of the second period Saturday night.
But before the Blue Jackets could record their 33rd shot, the Islanders took their first lead of the night. In his first game on the top line, Anthony Beauvillier stayed hot and fired a slap shot from the point that Josh Bailey redirected in front of the net for the goal at 11:14.
Just 82 seconds later, though, it was knotted back up. The Blue Jackets pounced on a turnover by Scott Mayfield as Cam Atkinson walked in for a point-blank shot on Halak that made it 2-2.
And before the period was over, the Blue Jackets had their lead back. A Bailey turnover gave way to a breakaway for Nick Foligno, who dangled around Halak for the 3-2 lead at 18:03.
The Islanders were lucky to get out of the first period with a 1-1 tie after the Blue Jackets dominated the shots on goal, 26-12. Despite giving up a power-play goal at 6:12 on a loose rebound, Halak kept the Islanders alive with 25 saves.
The Blue Jackets didn’t waste any time starting their firing practice on Halak, recording four shots on goal in the game’s first 31 seconds and 15 in the first 7:02.
But Nick Leddy tied it 1-1 when he cashed in on the power play, flicking a wrister into the back of the net at 17:38. It was Leddy’s first goal since Nov. 24, getting the monkey off his back after 30 straight games without one.