Bobrovsky posts 3rd shutout in 4 starts to keep Blue Jackets in playoff race
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Sergei Bobrovsky recorded his second consecutive shutout and the Columbus Blue Jackets stayed in the NHL playoff hunt, beating the New York Islanders 4-0 Tuesday night.
Ryan Dzingel, Artemi Panarin, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Cam Atkinson scored, and Bobrovsky finished with 26 saves and his eighth shutout of the season for the Blue Jackets, who are fighting to get above the wild-card line in the Eastern Division with six games to play.
They started the day two points behind Montreal for the second Eastern Division wild-card spot and three points behind Carolina for the first. The Canadiens and Blue Jackets face off in Columbus on Thursday night.
Thomas Greiss, who had shut out Columbus twice this season, finished with 29 saves.
The Blue Jackets took advantage of a couple of New York mistakes to help salvage a win in the last of the four-game season series between the Metro Division rivals.
Dzingel scored with a snipe over Greiss' head 5:43 into the game from the left circle. That came near the end of a power play brought about by the Islanders having too many men on the ice.
Panarin got his first goal in 13 games early in the second when Cam Atkinson batted at the puck in the neutral zone and pushed it behind the Islanders' defense. Panarin picked it up and beat Greiss on the breakaway.
Bjorkstrand scored his second goal in as many games with 8:46 remaining, and Atkinson added an empty-netter with 27 seconds left.
New York, which started the day in second place in the Metro Division behind Washington, had a two-game win streak snapped.
NOTES: New York F Andrew Ladd suffered a knee injury in Sunday's game and will miss the rest of the season. ... New York's Tom Kuhnhackl played in his 200th career NHL game. ... Columbus F Nick Foligno returned after missing four games to be with his family. His 22-month-old son, Hudson, was seriously ill with pneumonia. ... Greiss had stopped 80 straight shots against Columbus before Dzingel's first-period goal. ... Dzingel has a three-game points streak. ... Columbus is 30-7-2 when scoring the first goal this season. ... Columbus D Scott Harrington missed a second game with an injury.
UP NEXT
New York: At Winnipeg on Thursday.
Columbus: Hosts Montreal on Thursday.
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