3 Takeaways: Isles Hold On for 4-3 Win over Blue Jackets

The Brock Nelson, Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier trio stayed hot, as the New York Islanders opened a home-and-home set with the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 4-3 win on Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena.
Nelson (1G, 1A), Lee (2A) and Beauvillier (1G) combined for five points, while Josh Bailey and Zach Parise also lit the lamp for the Islanders, who snapped a two-game losing streak in the process. Mathew Barzal contributed two assists, while Semyon Varlamov stopped 42 of 45 shots in the win.

"Our last two games we played two good hockey teams," Barzal said. "Any time you lose a couple of games like that, it's pretty obvious the next one you want to get. You don't want to let that slide go for too long."
Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov scored a pair of goals for the Blue Jackets, while Oliver Bjorkstrand also scored. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 25 of 29 in the loss.
With the win, the Islanders (67 points) pulled within two points of the Blue Jackets (69 points) with two games in hand. The two teams will meet again on Thursday night at UBS Arena.

ISLES KICKSTART OFFENSE WITH FOUR-STRAIGHT GOALS

The Islanders offense took advantage of a leaky and undermanned Blue Jackets squad on Tuesday night.
Columbus entered the game allowing the third-most goals per game in the NHL (3.70) and were playing without captain Boone Jenner, or defenseman Zach Werenski, whose 42 points and 25:56 TOI/GP were sidelined with an upper-body injury.
After falling behind on the first of Gavrikov's two goals - a quick put-back rebound on a Patrik Laine shot - the Islanders responded with four-straight goals in a 19:03 span. Nelson's power-play goal at 11:47 was the spark that ignited the offense with Bailey finishing a JG Pageau pass at 15:09. Both goals saw the Blue Jackets skaters overcommit to Islanders' puck carriers, leaving an open man.
"Brock has stayed hot," Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "We're getting production from the Pageau line, we're getting production from the Nelson line and even Barzal's line scored today. We need that, we do. The top two lines the last 10 games have been pretty good."

The Islanders momentum continued into the second period. Nelson put a scorcher off the crossbar that kicked out to Beauvillier, who buried a sharp-angled shot from the boards at 3:47. The Islanders caught Columbus overcommitting again on their next goal, as Barzal drew the attention of three Blue Jackets before finding Noah Dobson open at the point. Dobson then threaded a perfect cross-ice pass to Parise who made it 4-1 at 9:10.
"That was just a world-class play by him," Parise said of Dobson's pass. "He's been doing a really good job of attacking and getting in the offense and looking for sticks on the back side… Offensively he's been doing great for us."

ISLES HOLD OFF BLUE JACKETS COMEBACK BID:

Even with a 4-1 lead, the Islanders were not completely out of the woods against a Columbus team with a knack for comebacks this season.
ISLANDERS 4, BLUE JACKETS 3
ISLANDERS ARTICLES
Gamecenter
Rapid Recap
Socios.com Postgame Photos
ISLANDERS-BLUE JACKETS VIDEO
Full Highlights

KINGER'S CALLS
Nelson's 200th Goal
Bailey Finishes Pageau Pass
Beauvillier From A Sharp Angle
Dobson to Parise
Twenty-one of the Blue Jackets' 32 wins this season involved overcoming a deficit, the second-most in the NHL this season. Gavrikov narrowed the gap to 4-2 with his second goal of the game, pinching off the blueline and backhanding a rebound through Varlamov's legs at 13:32.
"In the third period we just sat back," Trotz said. "We were backing up way too much. I didn't like our third obviously, they had lots of chances, but I liked our commitment on that last penalty kill. Our power play had a timely goal earlier in the game, so we'll take the win. We'll take any win we can get."
Columbus turned up the heat in the third period, outshooting the Islanders 16-3 in the final frame. Bjorkstrand made it 4-3 at the 4:30 mark, as a cross-ice pass hit Matt Martin in the slot before landing on Bjorkstrand's stick for a quick shot and a goal.
From there it became the Varlamov show, as the veteran goaltender held the fort during the Blue Jackets' push - though he did get an assist from Adam Pelech, who dove behind his netminder to pre-emptively block a chance. Perhaps his best save was a pokecheck on Bjorkstrand trying to cut across the net in the back half of the period, though Varlamov did a solid job to hug his post on a Gustav Nyquist chance at the side of the net.
The final test came on a late penalty kill with the Islanders ahead 4-3. Varlamov turned aside both Blue Jackets shot to win for the fourth time in six starts.
"Just another solid game from him," Lee said. "He stepped up when we needed it most. He's a big reason why we won tonight."

NELSON NETS 200TH:

Brock Nelson netted a milestone goal on Tuesday night, burying the 200th tally of his NHL career with a power-play goal in the first period.
Nelson was the beneficiary of a good bounce, as Lee's shot caromed off a skate in front of the net and out to the scorching hot Islanders center, who easily tucked it in at 11:47. In the process, Nelson became the 13th player in team history to score 200 goals.
It wasn't much of a surprise to see Nelson light the lamp, as the 30-year-old scored for a fourth-straight game and for the 13th time in his last 14 games. Tuesday marked the third time this season Nelson has scored in four-straight. He's never had a five-game goal streak, but before Saturday, he'd never scored 30 goals in a season either. Nelson currently has a team-leading 32 goals this season.
"We've built on every game and the more and more you play with guys the more success you have," Lee said. "The little plays, little things you talk about and the communication has been there forsure. The way Brock is playing hockey right now is pretty great, incredible and the way Beauvillier skates just gives us options and different looks."

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders wrap up the home-and-home set - and their season series against Columbus - on Thursday night at UBS Arena. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.