In Columbus, the Blue Jackets’ Boone Jenner scored 40 seconds into extra time on Friday to give Columbus a 5-4 win over the visiting New York Islanders.
The loser’s point enabled the Isles to extend their hold on the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference to three points over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Michael Hutchinson made 34 saves in the Blue Jackets win.
The Blue Jackets moved to 23-41-7.
“[The Islanders] are in a dogfight for points and the importance of this game for them, it forces you to get engaged,” Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. “You can’t dip your toe in. I thought we had a real good start to this game. I really loved how we started.”
The Islanders rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the third period on goals from Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson’s second of the game to force the extra session.
“We didn’t really come ready to play,” Palmieri said. “We managed to get a point out of it. I think we left one on the table there. We know the importance of every game down the stretch here. We were sloppy. We weren’t moving our feet, weren’t able to generate any speed coming out of our zone or through the neutral zone.”
New York took a 1-0 lead in the first stanza on a goal from Zach Parise.
Columbus tied it, 1-1, off a power play goal from Johnny Gaudreau in the early minutes of the middle frame.
Nelson hit for his first of the night to give the Isles a 2-1 lead, but Columbus reclaimed the lad on a marker from Liam Foudy, 3-2.
Kent Johnson scored at 17:06 of the second for a 4-2 lead to the Blue Jackets.
“Not really. I was looking for a shooting lane,” Johnson said. “I didn’t have it there, so I went through my legs. Once I skated around the net I kind of knew.”
The Islanders dropped to 37-27-9.
“It took us too long to get to our game, but I do give our guys credit,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. “They found a way to scratch and claw and then there’s just an unfortunate penalty and we are going to overtime. Considering we’re going in the third period down two, it’s a big point to get.”
Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves in the Islanders loss.
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