Islanders shut out Blue Jackets, end three-game winless streak

Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves in relief, and Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist for the New York Islanders in a 2-0 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Barclays Center on Saturday.

Anders Lee scored for New York (17-5-2), which ended a three-game winless streak (0-2-1).
"Honestly, this one goes to Varlamov]," Lee said. "Coming in cold, quick change there and really shutting the door on a team that had quite a bit of chances. I think the shot totals might have been a little high for what we would like to see, but a shutout nonetheless and [Varlamov] deserves a lot of credit for that."
***[WATCH: [All Blue Jackets vs. Islanders highlights]*
Thomas Greiss made nine saves before leaving the game at 14:06 of the first period. He remained on the Islanders bench.
Varlamov made 17 saves in the third period.
"Probably just a little sickness or whatever," New York coach Barry Trotz said of Greiss. "He just said, 'I don't know if I should stay in.' [Varlamov] did a real good job. He came in cold, and I thought our bench responded pretty good. The next few shifts, we kept in their end a little bit until he could get warmed up and into the game.
"I thought he made some real timely saves. He looked huge in the net, just real confident."

Elvis Merzlikins made 25 saves for Columbus (11-11-4), which lost defenseman Zach Werenski at 3:37 of the first period because of an upper-body injury after a collision with Lee in front of the Blue Jackets net.
Columbus coach John Tortorella did not have an update on Werenski's condition.
"Obviously, [Werenski's] an important part to our back end," Tortorella said. "I thought we played a good hockey game."
Lee gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 1:18 of the first period when he one-timed Josh Bailey's pass from the edge of the right circle. It was his first goal since Nov. 1 and first point in nine games.
"We've played a lot of hockey together, so we're really familiar with one another and read off each other and understand each other's games," Lee said. "He did a great job there setting me up."

Varlamov preserved the one-goal lead when he got his left pad on Oliver Bjorkstrand's wrist shot from the slot during a 3-on-2 rush at 8:10 of the second period.
Barzal made it 2-0 at 16:01 of the second after being sent on a breakaway by Adam Pelech. It was his 10th goal of the season.
"I just found an extra gear and I was fortunate enough to bury it," Barzal said.

They said it

"We've got to pick up the slack. Zach is a very key part of our team. I think he's the engine of our offense most nights. It's a big void to fill, but we have a lot of depth. We have guys that have been scratching to get in the lineup, and I know they'll come in and do a great job for us, and the guys that are playing as well need to step up and do a little bit more and be a little better too." -- Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones
"It's nice to come back and get a quick 'W' and feel good about our game a little bit. I thought there was some good chemistry out there. I just everyone actually had a pretty good game tonight, so it's nice to get back on track a bit." -- Islanders center Mathew Barzal

Need to know

Bjorkstrand's six-game point streak ended (two goals, seven assists). … Columbus had the lone power play of the game, which came with 3:01 remaining. … New York finished 9-2-2 in November and 6-0-1 at home. … Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy returned after missing a 4-1 loss at the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday because of a lower-body injury. He had no shots on goal in 18:55 of ice time. … New York tied a team record by alternating goalie starts for the first 24 games of a season (Kelly Hrudey and Billy Smith, 1984-85).

What's next

Blue Jackets: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-A, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)
Islanders:At the Detroit Red Wings on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-D, MSG+ 2, NHL.TV)