Isles blank Blue Jackets, 2-0

Mathew Barzal  and Anders Lee scored for the Isles who improved to 17-5-2.

Anders Lee had a goal in Isles win – file photo by Lewis Bleiman

“Honestly, this one goes to [Varlamov],” Lee said. “Coming in cold, quick change there and really shutting the door on a team that had quite a bit of chances. I think the shot totals might have been a little high for what we would like to see, but a shutout nonetheless and [Varlamov] deserves a lot of credit for that.”

Thomas Greiss got the start for the Isles but left the ice near the 15-minute mark of the first period; he made nine saves.  He did not leave arena but stayed on the bench.

“Probably just a little sickness or whatever,” New York coach Barry Trotz said of Greiss. “He just said, ‘I don’t know if I should stay in.’ [Varlamov] did a real good job. He came in cold, and I thought our bench responded pretty good. The next few shifts, we kept in their end a little bit until he could get warmed up and into the game.

“I thought he made some real timely saves. He looked huge in the net, just real confident.”

Semyon Varlamov iced the remainder of the game and made 30 saves in relief,

“It’s nice to come back and get a quick ‘W’ and feel good about our game a little bit,” Barzal said. “I thought there was some good chemistry out there. I just everyone actually had a pretty good game tonight, so it’s nice to get back on track a bit.”

[WATCH: All Blue Jackets vs. Islanders highlights]

Elvis Merzlikins made 25 saves in the loss.

“We’ve got to pick up the slack,” Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones said. “Zach (Werenski) is a very key part of our team. I think he’s the engine of our offense most nights. It’s a big void to fill, but we have a lot of depth. We have guys that have been scratching to get in the lineup, and I know they’ll come in and do a great job for us, and the guys that are playing as well need to step up and do a little bit more and be a little better too.”