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New York Islanders Highlights: Isles Blow 3rd Period Lead For Columbus Blue Jackets 8th Straight Win

By Kenneth Teape

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Final. 4. 113. 3. 106

New York Islanders Highlights: Islanders Blow 2-Goal Lead Late, Give Columbus Blue Jackets 8th Straight Win

The New York Islanders were running into another buzzsaw on Thursday night, as they traveled to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets, winners of seven consecutive games heading into Thursday. The Islanders looked to be well on their way to ending that streak, as they held a 3-1 lead more than halfway through the third period. That lead would not last though, as the Islanders fell apart and would eventually lose the game.

The Islanders seemed to rest on their laurels after taking a 3-1 lead, as the Blue Jackets became ultra aggressive and overwhelmed the Islanders. The Blue Jackets were placed on the comeback trail by Jack Johnson, who netted his eighth goal of the season with 11:08 gone in the third period. That was followed up by Ryan Johansen’s 26th goal of the season 5:09 later to tie the game at three.

Johnson’s goal was assisted by Nick Foligno and Scott Hartnell, while Johansen’s was assisted by Cam Atkinson and David Savard.

The Islanders should be lucky they even made it to overtime to earn a much needed point, as the Blue Jackets assault on Jaroslav Halak would continue. In the overtime period, the Blue Jackets got an advantage when Johnny Boychuk took an interference penalty 22 seconds in. They didn’t even need their goalie for overtime, as the Islanders were unable to even get a shot off on Sergei Bobrovsky, while Halak faced seven.

The Blue Jackets would carry that momentum into the shootout, as they made quick work of the Islanders there. Mark Letestu and Johansen each scored on the first two Blue Jacket attempts, while Bobrovsky blocked shot attempts from the Islanders’ Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo.

Prior to the debacle that was the end of the game, the Islanders had some strong spots. Eric Boulton scored his first goal of the season to kick the scoring off in the first period. His goal was assisted by Casey Cizikas and Nick Leddy.

After Brandon Dubinsky scored his 11th goal later in the period, assisted by Dalton Prout and Artem Anisimov, the Islanders would net two consecutive scores.

John Tavares would score his 35th goal of the season for the lone goal in the second period. It was assisted by Boychuk and Leddy. The Islanders then scored the first goal of the third period courtesy of Ryan Strome, his 17th of the season. The goal was assisted by Travis Hamonic and Tavares.

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Things then got out of hand for the Islanders, as they have dropped eight of their last 10 games. That has made their seeding in the playoffs shaky, as they are now tied for for second in the Metropolitan division with the Washington Capitals, one point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Luckily for the Islanders they have two relatively easy games coming up. Saturday they will host the Buffalo Sabres, whose fans have stooped to cheering on opposing teams because they want the Sabres to secure the first overall pick. After that, they will travel to take on the Philadelphia Flyers. Both teams are out of the playoffs, and could be the start of the recipe for the Islanders to turn things around.

Next: Who was the best Islander of 2014?

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