In Elmont, the Islanders’  Semyon Varlamov made 41 saves  in a 2-0 shut out of the visiting Nashville Predators on Saturday.

“He was outstanding. He looks so confident out there,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “It looked like it was an easy game. I was happy to see him play that way. We needed it. It’s four games in six nights for us. Guys might have been a bit tired, and I think that’s the reason why we had a few more turnovers than normal, but our goalie gave us the chance to win this game tonight. He won the game for us tonight.”

The win pushed the Isles into third in the Metropolitan Division.

“When we had to kill, we killed,” Varlamov said. “Guys blocked a lot of shots, especially from (Roman) Josi, he was shooting the whole night tonight. So, the PK was a key for us tonight. [Nashville] is a very skilled offensive team.

“Some pucks I saw and some pucks I didn’t, a couple of times I thought I got lucky. They missed a few, like, opportunities. Luck was definitely on my side today.”

New York improved to 35-27-15, they are two points clear of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-4, on Saturday.

“From the start of the game, we had everyone buying into what we needed to do to be successful,” New York’s Casey Cizikas said. “That’s a good hockey team over there. They’ve had a lot of success lately. For what we did out there, it’s a lot to be proud of, a lot to learn from, and we just got to keep this thing going.”

Noah Dobson staked the Islanders to a 1-0 lead at 9:07 of the middle frame, scoring off a shot from the point on the right side.

“Good play by Barzal getting the puck up top, and [Reilly] made a nice play to have some good poise to get it back over to me,” Dobson said. “I just tried to get my head up and find the shot, and [Cizikas] did a great job in front with the screen.”

The Predators dropped to 44-29-4 off their fourth loss in five matches.

Nashville is seven points clear of the St Louis Blues for the second wild card in the Western Conference.

“I think we’re playing some good hockey. We were on a really good stretch, and it’s just, sometimes, the bounces and momentum of the game and stuff,” Nashville’s Anthony Beauvillier said. “It was a good game tonight. We had a lot of chances, just couldn’t score and ran into a really good, hot goalie tonight. So, sometimes you have to tip your cap and move forward.”

Kyle Palmieri hit an empty net at 18:41 for the 2-0 final count on the scoreboard.

Kevin Lankinen made 28 saves in the loss.

“I thought it was a good hockey game,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “They were a desperate team. I thought they defended their blue paint really well. I thought we did a lot of good things all through the ice, all through the game. Maybe we were a little bit sluggish early, and I thought we got going. We just couldn’t buy a goal late in the game.”

In Columbus, Noah Dobson snapped a 2-2 tie at 3:21 of the third period on Thursday night to help send the New York Islanders to a 4-2 win over the Blue Jackets.

The win pushed the Islanders ahead of the Washington Capitals for the second wild spot in the Eastern Conference. The Caps lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-1, on home ice.

“I was just happy to contribute,” Dobson  said. “Obviously, a big goal at a big time of the game. It’s nice to get that one and get a big win.”

Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves in the win.

The Islanders moved to 34-27-15.

“It does feel like a playoff game for us every night,” New York forward Mathew Barzal said. “We’re fighting for our season right now. These are the best games of the year really. This is why you play. Everyone comes together with one goal in mind and that’s to get in.”

The two teams traded doubles in the opening stanza.

Pierre Engvall staked the Isles to a 1-0 lead at 7:53, hitting off the power play.

The Blue Jackets replied with a power play strike of their own when Dmitri Voronkov  scored at 9:45 to tie the game, 1-1.

Bo Horvat responded for the Islanders with a goal at 13:48 for a 2-1 lead to New York.

“Our mindset was really good,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “We didn’t get frustrated because it was a 2-2 game. … Team effort was really good. It was a big goal by Noah so I was happy to see him scoring that goal, but more than that the way he was playing defensively. He had a strong game defensively.”

Columbus tied the game, 2-2, with a strike by Kirill Marchenko at 17:22, he scored from behind the net after bouncing the puck off Sorokin’s mask.

“It happened so quick,” Marchenko said. “I remember [Sidney] Crosby goals like, six maybe, years ago. He scored two goals just shooting [at] the head. It’s in my head. I think about that. If I have opportunity, I try to do it.”

The Blue Jackets fell to 25-39-12.

“We have character in this group and we’re not going to give up,” Columbus’ Alexandre Texier said. “We’re going to play like it’s fighting for the playoffs. That’s how we should be. That’s our job. We are in the NHL, and we’ve got to do it.”

Kyle Palmieri hit an empty net with 38 seconds left on the clock for the 4-2 final count on the scoreboard.

Daniil Tarasov got the start for the Blue Jackets, he made 13 saves before departing the ice with an apparent injury.

Jet Greaves made 24 saves in relief.

“It’s hard to see Daniil going down like this,” Columbus coach Pascal Vincent said. “He’s been playing so good, created some momentum for himself and for the team and just unfortunate.”

In Elmont, the New York Islanders trailed the visiting Chicago Blackhawks, 1-0 entering the third period.

The Isles rallied with a pair of goals in the front of the period to take a 2-1 lead they protected for the win.

“I was very proud of the way we came out,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “We had a lot of chances at the beginning of the game and we could not score, but we didn’t change our game. We played the same way, we stayed with the plan, and even in the second we had a lot of chances. … And then in the third it came through. I mean, it was an important game for us. And we all knew it.”

Ilya Sorokin made 18 saves in the win.

The Islanders improved to 33-27-15 off their third win in four matches.

Jason Dickinson staked the Hawks to a 1-0 lead at 7:49 of the opening stanza scoring off an odd man rush.

The Blackhawks dropped to 22-48-5.

“I thought we got the start we wanted. We played fairly solid,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “I would like to have seen us get a little more drive to that net, more shots to the net tonight. When we did, they were pretty effective. Unfortunately, they got a bounce on that second goal … and we didn’t get it at the end to tie it.”

In the third period, Bo Horvat scored his 31st of the campaign at 1:33, hitting off a power play scoring off a pass from Mathew Barzal at the right circle.

“They played a good game tonight, and we faced a tough challenge of a good goaltender,” Horvat said. “We had to mentally grind through it. It definitely helps (our confidence), but we have a lot of work to do here. I mean, we’re chasing and we got to keep winning hockey games here in order to get in.”

New York took the lead on a marker from Simon Holmstrom  at 9:25, scoring after corralling an erratic puck in the slot.

“[Anders] Lee just threw it in there and I was just trying to find it,” Holmstrom said. “I found an open lane and it luckily went in.”

Petr Mrazek made 27 saves in the loss.

“It seemed like we were throwing everything at [Mrazek] and getting a lot of chances. It was just a matter of time before it was going to go in,” Horvat said. “Sometimes, in those kind of games, you feel like you’re never going to score, so it was a big, big goal. I told [Barzal] on the bench, ‘I can’t believe you opted to go to your backhand there.’”