The Islanders were able to open the scoring less than a minute into the game, with Ryan Strome wiring a loose puck past Korpisalo off a John Tavares faceoff win. It was yet another early lead given up by the Jackets, a common trend of late. Unlike earlier in the season when this would have been a death sentence, the Jackets have shown a keen ability to shake off these early deficits.
They were able to do it again last night. After the first TV timeout, Korpisalo pulled off a huge save, and the puck went up-ice the other way. Dalton Prout lobbed the puck off the end boards, where it was gathered by Brandon Dubinsky. Dubinsky and Boone Jenner crashed the net, with the puck leaking out of the pile to the stick of Cam Atkinson, who deposited it behind Jaroslav Halak to tie the game.
Moments later Brandon Saad found a loose puck between the hash marks, but fired a shot just wide of the net. You can tell that Saad is struggling a bit post-All Star, as that is the kind of situation that is normally a gimme for a player like Saad.
The Atkinson-Dubinsky combo went back to work a few minutes later, with Cam picking the pocket of Travis Hamonic in the neutral zone before skating in on a two-on-one with Dubinsky. Cam waited for the defender and Halak to bite, before sending a pass over to Dubinsky for the open-net shot.
The second period was uneventful until a Frans Nielsen tripping penalty with 16:29 left. The Jackets were unable to score on the powerplay, but they pressured Halak and continued to do so after the play returned to five-on-five.
The Islanders started to take over the period midway through, but the Jackets’ bacon was saved by Korpisalo. He was simply outstanding.
The best chance for the home team was a Dubinsky breakaway, but his shot found iron after glancing off the glove of Halak.
The Islander onslaught continued throughout the third period, and thanks to an Anders Lee powerplay goal the game was tied. Korpisalo was just amazing, however, keeping his team in it despite a massive shot disparity.
At the end of regulation the game was tied, leading to three-on-three overtime. The action was amazing, with both teams going end-to-end despite being at times completely out of gas. Korpisalo slammed the door shut and finished regulation and overtime with 44 saves.
Unfortunately for the Jackets, Korpisalo’s heroics couldn’t save them in the skills portion of the evening. Atkinson, Dubinsky and Jenner were all stopped by Halak, with goals from Wennberg for Columbus and Nielsen and Cal Clutterbuck for the Isles. Clutterbuck sealed the victory.
FINAL SCORE: 3-2 Islanders (SO)
For the advanced stats for this game, check out War on Ice.
The Jackets are back at it on Thursday at home against the Ducks.