This is not the time of year to suddenly stop scoring goals.
But the Columbus Blue Jackets are doing just that.
On Monday night, Thomas Greiss made 31 saves for the New York Islanders in a 2-0 shutout of the Jackets.
Anders Lee sealed win for Isles with empty net goal – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“Everybody showed up to play tonight,” Greiss said. “Unbelievable battle level from everybody.”
With the Philadelphia Flyers winning Monday night over the Senators, the Blue Jackets are clear by just three points over the Flyers for the second wild card spot.
The Isles improved to 40-22-7.
Ryan Pulock staked the Isles to a 1-0 lead in the first period.
“He (Greiss) was pretty big when we needed him, especially in the third,” Pulock said. “They had a push, and we knew that was coming, but anything they got, he was there.”
Anders Lee added a late empty net goal to complete the scoring.
This was third shut out in six games for Columbus.
“You take out the first eight minutes of the first period, which was frustrating to me how we started, but after that I thought we played really well,” Jackets head coach John Tortorella said. “I think you have to give their goaltender a little bit of props tonight, making some saves. But I think some of our main chances, we don’t get to the net.”
The Blue Jackets dropped to 38-28-3.
[WATCH: All Blue Jackets vs. Islanders highlights]
Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves in the loss.
“It’s frustrating,” Matt Duchene said. “We were the better team tonight, bottom line. I don’t even know if they got to 20 [shots]. I think they had 18 shots before that empty-net goal.
“We took over the second half of the game. Three goal posts, and Greiss played well on the other plays. There’s a lot of good things to take away from that one. We can’t dwell on this one. We’ve got to get ready for the next one.”
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