Columbus Blue Jackets continue streak with win over New York Islanders
The New York Islanders fell to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday 24 November by a score of 4-3 in overtime. Blue Jackets forward Jakub Voracek knocked a rebound past Islanders goaltender
Rick DiPietro at the 2:31 mark of overtime.
Blue Jackets goaltender Mathieu Garon stopped 21 shots, including a glove save on a hard shot from defenceman James Wisniewski, just on above the top right circle. Antoine Vermette, Chris
Clark, and R.J. Umberger scored for Columbus. Trent Hunter, Michael Grabner and John Tavares scored goals for the Islanders while Rick DiPietro made 34 saves.
The Islanders took the early lead on a snap shot from Hunter at 10:16 in the first. The Jackets responded with a goal from Vermette on the power play, and scored again two minutes later
when Clark put the puck past DiPietro on a pass from Vermette and Umberger.
The Islanders wasted no time getting back in the game by scoring less than a minute into the second period with a backhand from Michael Grabner. John Tavares squeezed one between the pads
of Haron after the puck bounced off the back boards and onto the young forwards stick. A wrister from Umberger tied it up at 6:46 in the second.
After a scoreless third, the game went into overtime. It only took two shots to beat DiPietro. The first shot from Kris Russell rebounded and landed on the stick of Voracek who was driving
to the net. The Czech forward found himself in front of a wide open net and buried the puck, sealing New York’s fate.
The win extends the Blues’ win streak to five, while stretching the the Islanders losing streak to 14 (0-11-3). The game also marked the first time the Islanders have scored more than
three goals since a 5-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday 27 October. New York has been outscored 53-21 in that stretch, and have fallen in their last five home games.
While the Islanders have plummeted to the bottom of the standings the Blue Jackets find themselves in vastly different situations. Winners of five straight, Columbus finds themselves tied
with Central division-leading Detroit Red Wings. The two teams meet on Friday 26 November.
If Columbus wants to claim sole possession of the Central division and the Western conference, they’ll likely have to be better against the Wings than they were on Wednesday, and the coach
is aware of it. "We weren't as crisp and clean as we have been," said Blue Jackets bench boss Scott Arniel.
As for the Islanders, the last month has been trying, but they aren’t going to abandon the season just yet. “It’s getting frustrating, no doubt about it,” said Islanders forward P.A. Parenteau.
Despite recent disappointments, Parenteau still sees a light at the end of the tunnel. “We’re doing some good things. The way we’ve played the last couple of games shows we’re not giving up. We have the guys to turn it around in this locker room.”
"When you make a couple more mistakes than the other team, you lose, and that’s what has been happening to us lately," said Rick DiPietro, who’s signed with the Islander until the 2017-18
season. "We're playing hard and competing and trying to prove to everyone we care as much as they do."
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