Halak stops 46 shots as Islanders edge Blue Jackets
Brock Nelson scored the tiebreaking goal 5:14 into the third period as the New York Islanders edged the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 on Saturday night at Barclays Center in New York.
Nelson netted his 11th goal by being in the right place at the right time.
Columbus goaltender Joonas Korpisalo stopped Ryan Pulock's drive from the right circle but did not smother the rebound. Andrew Ladd gained possession of the loose puck and dished it Nelson, who tapped it into the vacated side of the net from the left doorstep.
Nick Leddy, Josh Bailey, and Jordan Eberle also scored for the Islanders, who were outscored 9-1 in their first two games after the All-Star break. Rookie Mathew Barzal and Pulock added two assists apiece for the Islanders, who won for the third time in eight games.
Josh Anderson, Cam Atkinson, and Nick Foligno scored for Columbus, which blew two one-goal leads and dropped its third straight.
Jaroslav Halak tied a career-high with 46 saves for the Islanders. Korpisalo turned aside 34 shots.
The Blue Jackets outshot the Islanders by a whopping 26-12 margin in the first period and took a 1-0 lead when Anderson poked in a rebound off a scramble during a power play 6:12 into the game.
The Islanders answered over 11 minutes later when Leddy ended a 30-game goal drought by lifting a wrist shot from the high slot through traffic over the stick side.
Bailey gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead by deflecting a slap shot from Anthony Beauvillier with 8:48 remaining in the second but the Blue Jackets tied it 82 seconds later when Atkinson fired a wrist shot from below the left circle moments after a turnover by Scott Mayfield.
Columbus regained the lead on its 40th shot of the game by capitalizing on another turnover. Moments after Bailey coughed up the puck in his offensive zone, Foligno skated in on a breakaway and tucked a backhander under Halak's left pad with 1:57 left in the second.
The Islanders tied the game 2:49 into the third moments after an errant clearing pass by Columbus defenseman Seth Jones. Moments after the turnover, Eberle forged a 3-3 deadlock with a wrist shot from the low left slot.
--Field Level Media
