Recap: Blue Jackets 6, Islanders 2

With two streaking teams going into Saturday night, one team's streak was bound to snap.
On this night, it was the New York Islanders, who saw their six-game point streak ended by the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 6-2 loss at Nationwide Arena.

Josh Bailey and John Tavares had the Islanders in a 2-2 tie after two periods, but the Blue Jackets blew the game open with four goals in the third. Josh Anderson blasted a slap shot past Jaroslav Halak at the 2:19 mark for the eventual game-winner, while Brandon Saad, Lukas Sedlak and Seth scored in a five-minute span to seal it. The regulation loss was the Islanders first in just over two weeks.
"It was disappointing the way we played," Tavares said. "Especially after some real good third periods lately and the one we had on Thursday. It's just disappointing the way we responded."

The Islanders got off to a fast start on Saturday outshooting the Blue Jackets 8-1 early, including a freak deflection that put the Isles out in front 1-0. Sam Gagner went to clear the puck out of the Blue Jackets end, but his attempt clipped Bailey's stick, lobbed up and fell down past Sergei Bobrovsky at 5:59.
Things evened out later in the period, as the Blue Jackets benefited from a deflection off an Islanders' stick, as Jack Johnson's point shot caromed off Cal Clutterbuck's lumber and past Halak at 13:39.
Columbus took at 2-1 lead midway through the second period, as Johnson sprung Cam Atkinson for a breakaway that the Blue Jackets' leading scorer converted at 10:16. This time the Islanders responded with a quick goal, as Tavares put in a second effort to get his own rebound and lift it over Bobrovsky's pad in tight.

That set up a tie game in the third period. The Islanders successfully killed off a hooking penalty, but Anderson intercepted Nick Leddy's cross-zone pass, skated in and beat Halak with a slap shot from the hash marks. From there, the Jackets gained momentum. Saad scored a one-timer from the top of the circle at 9:23, Sedlak swept a rebound past Halak at 12:39 and Jones capped it with a slap shot from the top of the right circle at 14:23.
"Momentum is huge in a game and after that play the momentum favored them," Leddy said. "They used it to their advantage."
After the game the Islanders said the focus is just about moving forward.
"Win or lose we always turn the page and get ready for the next game," Bailey said. "We'll do the same here."

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders return home to face the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night at Barclays Center. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.

NOTES:

The Islanders went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, their ninth straight game without allowing a power-play goal… Ryan Strome returned to the lineup after missing one game with an illness… Saturday's loss was the Islanders first regulation loss to the Blue Jackets in 10 games (7-1-2)