The Columbus Blue Jackets knew what was in front of them on Sunday night. They needed a win to start the post-Christmas part of their season. Thanks to a late third-period rally, they got the job done.
Kirill Marchenko scored two goals including the game winner with 3:19 remaining to lift the Blue Jackets to a 4-2 win over the New York Islanders in front of a sellout crowd at Nationwide Arena. Ivan Provorov scored a key tying goal while Jet Greaves made 24 saves.
The story of this game was a big mid-game scrum followed by a bigger Blue Jackets’ comeback.
Game Recap
The Blue Jackets had five days off while waiting for the Islanders after their 2-0 shutout of the New York Rangers on Saturday night. The Blue Jackets got the jump they were hoping for and it resulted in the game’s opening goal.
Mason Marchment found Marchenko for a breakaway. He used his shootout move to beat David Rittich for the 1-0 lead.
Despite controlling the period as a whole, the Blue Jackets weren’t able to hold the lead.
Jean Gabriel-Pageau shot the puck towards the net. Greaves got a piece of it. However, the puck went to Maxim Shabanov who deflected the puck off his lower body for a 1-1 game. Officials reviewed the play to determine if it was kicked in. The call on the ice stood.
Then all heck broke loose in the second.
Just 1:37 into the middle period, Marchment tripped Matthew Schaefer. The Islanders took exception to the play thinking it was a knee-to-knee hit.
Mathew Barzal took matters into his own hands and slashed Marchment across the legs with a baseball-style swing. Marchment got a minor for tripping. Meanwhile, Barzal was ejected from the game as he got a five-minute major and a game misconduct. We’ll see if anything further comes from the Department of Player Safety on this incident.
After the fireworks dies down, the Islanders grabbed the lead. A missed pass led to Ryan Pulock finding Bo Horvat for the 2-1 goal. That was Horvat’s 20th goal of the season.
Blue Jackets’ head coach Dean Evason was not happy with the way the Blue Jackets played the second period. Postgame, he said the second and third periods were two different games.
The Blue Jackets got the message and eventually caved the Islanders in throughout the duration of the third. It took a little luck to tie the game.
Provorov’s shot found its way through a maze of bodies to make it 2-2. Then with the momentum and Nationwide Arena awake, they took the lead just 1:14 later.
Marchenko was able to get the puck past Rittich for the 3-2 lead. Cole Sillinger hit the empty net from his own zone for the 4-2 final score.
After shutting out the Rangers, Rittich made 30 saves and did everything he could to give the Islanders a chance to win. Ultimately, the fresher Blue Jackets took advantage of the tired Islanders and returned the favor from their earlier meeting at Belmont Park when the Blue Jackets lost late in regulation.
The Blue Jackets will head to Ottawa for a Monday night game with the Senators. The Islanders will now head to Chicago for a Tuesday night tilt with the Blackhawks.
