In Columbus, the Blue Jackets are chasing a wild card spot they held until a week ago.
On Tuesday night, they kept pace with their prey, the Montreal Canadiens, in a 4-0 win over the New York Islanders.
Sergei Bobrovsky picked up second straight shutout – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Sergei Bobrovsky picked up his second straight shut out with a 26-save performance.
“It’s a team sport,” Bobrovsky said. “I’m part of the team. It’s so important how the team played together in front of me and I tried my best to help them win the games.”
The Isles have been shut out three times in their last five matches and their offense has gone quite.
“It was a playoff game, plain and simple,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “There’s not a lot of room. You’ve got to create it.”
Columbus improved to 42-30-4 with the win.
Ryan Dzingel staked the Jackets to all the offense they needed with a goal in the first period.
“That first goal was huge finding a way, even if you’re not feeling 100 percent like the energy seemed to be,” Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno said. “It allowed us to have a little cushion, to allow our game to really take over in the second half.”
The Islanders were looking to keep pace with the Washington Capitals but as now three points back of the Metro Division’s leaders.
Artemi Panarin and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored in the third period to break the game open.
“Patience was very important. You have to have patience versus the Islanders. I just liked how we checked. We took what they gave us. It was a game of chess as far as who was going to get too anxious or frustrated,” Columbus head coach John Tortorella said.
Cam Atkinson scored an empty-netter to seal it.
[WATCH: All Islanders vs. Blue Jackets highlights]
Thomas Greiss made 29 saves in the loss.
“He’s (Bobrovsky) calm back there, makes a lot of saves for them. With a quality goalie like that, you’ve got to find a way to get more bodies, more pucks there to create havoc,” the Islanders’ Brock Nelson said.
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