The Columbus Blue Jackets, who snagged a win right before their NHL-mandated break, kept their momentum going after the holidays, scoring three third-period goals to beat the New York Islanders 4-2 on Dec. 28.
Late-game struggles have haunted the Blue Jackets this season, and they owned a -22 goal differential in the third period entering the Sunday matchup at Nationwide Arena. However, they caught a break when Ivan Provorov scored his fifth goal of the season, tying the game 2-2. Seconds later, Kirill Marchenko scored his second goal of the contest to take the lead.
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Before the game, the Blue Jackets placed Zach Werenski on the injured reserve due to an ankle injury sustained on Dec. 20 against the Ducks. In a corresponding move, right winger Mathew Olivier returned from his 13-game absence, was activated off the IR and played on the third line.
The Jackets, who headed into the break having wrapped up a West Coast trip with a 3-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings, outshot the Islanders 15 to 9 in the first period. In that same period, recently acquired forward Mason Marchment received the puck and found Marchenko lurking behind the Islanders’ defenders. Marchenko snuck it past the reach of the goalie with 11:51 left.
However, after Jackets goalie Jet Greaves managed a save against forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Max Shabanov unintentionally deflected the puck underneath Greaves into the net. The officials ruled there was no intentional kicking motion, allowing Shabanov’s goal to stand and evening the score before the end of the first period.
Theatrics dominated the second period. Marchment, who had clipped Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer in the first period, stuck out his leg and tripped the defenseman again, which was the breaking point for the Islanders. Before play was whistled dead, Mathew Barzal skated over to an isolated Marchment and forcefully swung his stick with two hands at his right ankle.
With chippiness peaking, both teams piled up and scuffled, but penalties were awarded solely to Marchment and Barzal: a two-minute tripping penalty for Marchment and a five-minute major and game misconduct for Barzal, who was sent off for the remainder of the contest as a result.
Columbus had a 4-on-3 opportunity when Adam Pelech tripped Miles Wood seconds after the post-brawl faceoff, but could not convert on the opportunity, nor the subsequent 5-on-4 power play. Marchment then received a third tripping penalty at the 15-minute mark.
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After the tension and penalties subsided, the Islanders found their footing. Duclair stole a puck from Ivan Provorov and found Bo Horvat speeding through the neutral zone. Horvat gave New York a 2-1 lead with 6:36 remaining in the second.
The Islanders held the lead until 4:34 remained in the game, which is when Provorov netted the equalizer. Cole Sillinger launched the puck at the empty net goal to cap off the comeback effort.
Though placed on the IR the morning of gameday, the Jackets made the move retroactive to Dec. 20, so Columbus can activate Werenski at any time because the seven-day minimum has passed. The Jackets have strung together back-to-back wins for the first time since Dec. 4 and look to keep the streak alive Dec. 29 against the Ottawa Senators.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets score 3 3rd period goals in 4-2 win vs Islanders