Today, the only news of note was that the Blue Jackets waived Kevin Connauton. Connauton had been scratched for the last few games, and had clearly failed to capitalize on his strong performance with the team last December. Justin Falk would remain in the lineup tonight, and Anton Forsberg would man the net. Coach Tortorella continued with his theme of giving the young kids a chance, as Josh Anderson and Kerby Rychel would play with Brandon Dubinsky. To the highlights!
FIRST PERIOD HIGHLIGHTS
Your CBJ starters: Anton Forsberg, Brandon Saad, Alexander Wennberg, Cam Atkinson, Ryan Murray, Seth Jones
Just an aside before we get going- I am sure the Barclay’s Center in New York is wonderful for basketball, but it appears to have been designed with hockey as an afterthought, especially with some views of the ice completely blocked by railings and other structures.
SAVE. Scary opening moment for the Blue Jackets as the Islanders had multiple chances at the net around the crease, but Forsberg was able to deny them all. Nervy moment at 0:20.
Columbus looked slow early- late to pucks, indecisive, and like they were not moving their legs.
Islanders on the power play. After a rush up the ice, Brandon Dubinsky slashed Anders Lee. He went to the box at 2:11.
The Blue Jackets killed the penalty, allowing 3 shots on goal. The team did a good job of mostly keeping the puck to the outside.
Not an ideal start for this team 4 minutes in. The only way it could have been worse was if they had given up a goal.
CHANCE! Kerby Rychel threw a backhand across the goalmouth, but Dubinsky could not get a stick on it.
Islanders goal. That one was coming. As Ryan Strome deflected a shot to Forsberg’s 5 hole, it squirted through his pads, where Strome buried it at 5:03. Assist to Matt Martin.
Another chance for New York at 6:12, as Forsberg saved a shot from Mikhael Grabovski after a feed from John Tavares. Columbus had not yet registered a shot on net, and had hardly touched the puck.
A brutally ugly start to the game for Columbus. No two ways around it.
Islanders on the power play. Fedor Tyutin hit John Tavares with a high stick at 6:19. It would be a double minor, as Tyutin drew blood.
Nullifying a good chunk the power play, Brock Nelson took a holding the stick penalty against William Karlsson at 6:49.
No change to the score during the 4 on 4 period.
At the midway mark of the first period, the New York Islanders had registered 10 shots on goal. Columbus? Zero.
Columbus killed the double minor.
BLUE JACKETS GOAL! William Karlsson buried a rebound off of a Jack Johnson shot at 10:26. Assist to Jack Johnson. Johnson made that play, as he led the rush down the ice, hit Thomas Greiss with a shot, and Karlsson buried it.
Islanders goal. Brock Nelson buried a shot stick side at 12:00. Assists to Josh Bailey and Thomas Hickey.
New York dominated the opening frame. No other way to put it. No highlights for the Blue Jackets, outside of the Karlsson goal. Columbus was outshot 17-5, lost 10 of 14 faceoffs, and faced a penalty kill 3 separate times. To only be trailing 2-1 at the break was a minor miracle.
SECOND PERIOD HIGHLIGHTS
New York opened with the same pressure that they had in the first period. John Tavares rang a shot off the crossbar at 1:04, after catching the Jackets on a change.
Jackets on the power play! Brian Strait went off for boarding at 2:24. Boone Jenner was not happy about the hit.
No shots on goal for the Blue Jackets. The Isles did a great job blocking any attempted effort from Columbus.
Chance for Columbus!! Rychel had a breakaway saved by Greiss at 5:00.
Brandon Saad hit the crossbar at 8:25.
Scott Hartnell went off for roughing Cal Clutterbuck at 9:47. Stupid penalty for Hartnell to take, as he was unhappy with a hit.
Nick Leddy went off at 10:16 for holding William Karlsson, nullifying the man advantage.
CHANCE!! Seth Jones found Ryan Murray, but Greiss gloved the shot at 11:57.
The Jackets power play was killed by the Islanders.
BLUE JACKETS GOAL! David Savard let a one timer fly from just inside the blue line, and it fooled Thomas Greiss at 13:49. The goal was unassisted. It was Savard’s first of the season.
I’ll be honest, folks- no idea how Columbus is in this one. The Islanders have skated circles around them thus far. And yet, here we were. Credit to Forsberg, who stood tall in the face of a blistering storm from New York.
Islanders goal. Following a poor play from David Savard in the neutral zone and a 2-on-1, Brock Nelson buried his second of the night at 17:29. The goal was unassisted. It was a soft goal allowed by Forsberg, who should have closed his 5 hole faster.
Chance for Columbus! Jared Boll had a shot denied at 19:00.
Jackets on the power play! Nikolay Kulemin was hit with a cross checking penalty at 19:20.
The period ended with the Blue Jackets trailing 3-2, and being outshot 23-14.
THIRD PERIOD HIGHLIGHTS
The Blue Jackets opened the third period on the power play, but were unable to set up extended time in the offensive zone, and the Islanders were able to kill the penalty.
Kerby Rychel- William Karlsson- Josh Anderson was a line we saw early in the period. Interesting wrinkle.
At 3:15, Ryan Strome had a shot denied by Forsberg after a nice feed from Tavares.
Islanders on the power play. Jared Boll went off at 3:23 for targeting the head of Marek Zidlicky.
The Jackets, to their credit, killed the penalty with authority. Excellent shift from Karlsson and Atkinson.
Islanders goal. Immediately after the power play expired, Brian Strait buried a shot from the blue line to put the Islanders up 4-2. Assists to John Tavares and Brock Nelson.
Jackets on the power play! Strait immediately went to the box for tripping Boone Jenner at 5:54.
The Islanders killed the penalty without much trouble.
SAVE!!! Forsberg denied Strome, who had even raised his hands in celebration. Somehow, it stayed out of the net.
The third period looked much like the first- the Jackets spent a good chunk of their time chasing pucks and scrambling in the defensive zone.
Save! Forsberg denied Tavares on a deflection in front of the net at 12:15.
A whole mess of penalties as the feed went to commercial. Justin Falk went off for roughing at 14:32, Mikhail Grabovsky went off for cross-checking and unsportsmanlike conduct, as the Blue Jackets went on a power play.
CHANCE! With Greiss down, the Blue Jackets could not find the back of the net. Several great plays from Seth Jones helped set the play up.
The Blue Jackets pulled Anton Forsberg at 16:52.
Jackets on the power play. Brandon Saad took a high stick at 17:16.
Atkinson one timer goes just wide at 18:15.
Penalty to Columbus. Nikolay Kulemin was hit with a high stick from Cam Atkinson at 18:42.
Islanders goal. Brock Nelson outraced David Savard, and finished off his first career hat trick at 19:49. Someone threw a wig on the ice in celebration.
FINAL: New York Islanders 5, Columbus Blue Jackets 2
QUICK THOUGHTS
One day, Columbus will learn to stay out of the box.
The team flat did not show up for the first period. It’s an ongoing issue with this team.
William Karlsson had a nice game tonight.
#MatthewsWatch: STILL LAST!! Columbus is two points “ahead” of Buffalo, with 2 more games played.
UP NEXT
Columbus travels to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs Wednesday night. Faceoff is at 7:00 EST.