UBS Keys to the Game: Islanders vs. Blue Jackets

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (29-27-9) VS COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (32-30-5)7:00 PM ET | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETSWATCH: HULU | ESPN+LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | 98.7FM
Back at home.
The New York Islanders will look to claim their second-straight win over the Columbus Blue Jackets as the Metropolitan Division clubs close out their home-and-home set on Thursday night at UBS Arena.

The Islanders pulled out a 4-3 win over Columbus on Tuesday night. After going down 1-0 in the first period, they responded and scored four-straight goals from Brock Nelson (power play), Josh Bailey, Anthony Beauvillier and Zach Parise. Semyon Varlamov stopped 42 of 45 shots in the win.
For Columbus, Vladislav Gavrikov scored twice, while Oliver Bjorkstrand also found the back of the net. Elvis Merzlikins made 25 saves on 29 shots in the loss.
With Tuesday's win, the Islanders (67 points) inched within two points of the Blue Jackets (69 points) in the Metro Division standings and hold two games in hand.

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• Nelson continued his scoring tear as he notched his 200th-career goal, which also marked his team-leading 32nd goal of the season and ninth power-play goal. The goal extended the centerman's goal streak to four games - matching a career best and a feat he's accomplished three times this season - where he tallied five goals in that span. Nelson leads the Islanders in scoring with 48 points through 56 games. Nelson's 13 goals in the month of March are tied with Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov for the most in the NHL and the 30-year-old became the first Islander to score 13 goals in a calendar month since Zigmund Palffy did so in March of 1996.
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• Bailey scored his eighth goal of the season and now has 32 points (8G, 24A) through 57 games.
• Beauvillier buried his 11th goal of the season and now has 32 points (11G, 21A) through 62 games.
• Parise's game winner marked his 11th goal of the season and third game-winning goal. The winger now has 27 points (11G, 16A) through 65 games. He is still the only player to have dressed in every game this season for the Islanders.
• Anders Lee dished out two assists. The Islanders captain now has 40 points (25G, 15A) through 59 games. Lee has 20 points (11G, 9A) in his last 13 games.
• Mathew Barzal also handed out two assists and now has 44 points (12G, 32A) through 56 games.
• Varlamov made his 22nd start of the season and improved his record 7-13-2. The Russian netminder has a 2.88 GAA, a .914 SV% and one shutout this season. Varlamov is 4-1-1 in his last six games.
• Cory Schneider served as backup goaltender as Ilya Sorokin did not travel and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
• Matt Martin skated in his 800th NHL game and 668th as an Islander. Martin will tie John Tavares (669 games) for 11th on the Islanders all-time games played list.
• Kieffer Bellows drew in the lineup in place of Ross Johnston, while defenseman Grant Hutton skated in his second-straight game.
• Thursday's game marks the Islanders' final game in their manic month of March where they had 17 games in 31 days - which marks the most games in a month in franchise history. That torrid pace included three back-to-back sets, with a fourth set beginning on March 31 and concluding on April 1. So far, the Islanders are 9-6-1 this month.

BLUE JACKETS:

• Gavrikov scored his fourth and fifth goals of the season. The Russian blueliner now has 29 points (5G, 24A) through 65 games.
• Bjorkstrand buried his new career-best 24th goal of the season. The winger now has the second-most points among the Blue Jackets squad with 50 points (24G, 26A) through 65 games.
• Patrik Laine dished out two assists and leads Columbus in scoring with 51 points (25G, 26A) through 48 games.
• With an assist on Bjorkstrand's goal, Jakub Voracek extended his point streak to six games where he's posted as many points in that span (2G, 4A). The Czech winger has compiled 49 points (5G, 44A) through 64 games. Bjorkstrand fired off a game-high of eight shots on goal on Tuesday night.
• Merzlikins made his 43rd start of the season, while his record dropped to 22-16-5. The 27-year-old netminder owns a 3.40 GAA, a .902 SV% and two shutouts this season.

• The Blue Jackets were 0-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill against the Islanders.
• Columbus played Tuesday's game without some key pieces as defenseman Zach Werenski was sidelined with an upper-body injury he had sustained in the previous game and their captain Boone Jenner, who is week-to-week with a back injury. Werenski did not make the trip to Long Island with the team and will not play on Thursday.
• The Blue Jackets outshot the Islanders 16-3 in the third period and 45-29 throughout the entire game.
• Forwards Eric Robinson and Sean Kuraly laid out a game-high of four hits on Tuesday, where the Blue Jackets outhit the Islanders 20-17.
• Associate Coach Pascal Vincent ran the Blue Jackets' bench as it was announced before the game that Head Coach Brad Larsen and Assistant Coach Steve McCarthy were placed in COVID-19 protocol.