Blue Jackets blitz Islanders, 4-1
The Columbus Blue Jackets scored the final four goals Tuesday night, when they beat the host New York Islanders 4-1 at Barclays Center.
Oliver Bjorkstrand, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Brandon Dubinsky and Cam Atkinson scored for the Blue Jackets, who outshot the Islanders 51-30. Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves.
John Tavares scored for the Islanders, and New York goalie Jaroslav Halak recorded 47 saves.
The Blue Jackets tied a team record -- first set against the Islanders in the first period Feb. 3 -- by collecting 26 shots in the first period Tuesday. Even so, New York hit intermission with a 1-0 lead thanks to Tavares' power-play goal with 2:09 remaining.
Bobrovsky could not smother the puck after a pair of Anders Lee shots, and Tavares swooped in and nudged the puck over the goal line.
The Blue Jackets finally broke through with a pair of power-play goals 13 minutes apart in the second.
Bjorkstrand tied the game at the 6:02 mark. His shot sailed past Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey, who went to one knee trying to block the puck, and under the stick arm of Halak, who was screened by Columbus right winger Josh Anderson.
Anderson contributed a screen again when Dubois scored what proved to be the game-winning goal with 57 seconds remaining in the middle period. Dubois' shot from the right faceoff circle went past Anderson and Halak and into the corner of the net.
The Blue Jackets put the game away in a 43-second span early in the third. Dubinsky's wrap-around goal extended the lead to 3-1 at the 6:01 mark before Atkinson swooped in on Halak and tapped home a perfect pass from Artemi Panarin.
Zach Werenski notched three assists for Columbus, while Dubois and Bjorkstrand each had two-point nights.
The Blue Jackets converted two of their four power-play chances, and the Islanders were 1 of 3.
--Field Level Media
