ELMONT, N.Y. — There are games that simply must be won to be considered a viable playoff contender.
The Blue Jackets are injury-plagued, forced to play several neophytes and entered play on Saturday tied for last overall in the NHL.
That the Blue Jackets gave a great effort in their pace and energy did not diminish the necessity for the Islanders to win.
The Islanders needed to rally three times from one-goal deficits and they did just enough for a 4-3 overtime win at UBS Arena.
In other words, ‘Whew.’
Jean-Gabriel Pageau fed Zach Parise on the first shift of overtime for the winning goal after Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen opted to use three forwards for the three-on-three play.
Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves and Brock Nelson scored twice on a game-high 10 shots for the Islanders (10-6-0). Joonas Korpisalo stopped 42 shots for the Blue Jackets (4-9-0) as the Islanders tied a season high for shots.
Defenseman Scott Mayfield tied the game at 3-3 at 12:51 of the third period, lifting a backhander in the slot.
The Blue Jackets, whose minus-22 goal differential entering the game was the second worst in the NHL, snapped a five-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the visiting Flyers on Thursday. But they lost defensemen Zach Werenski (separated shoulder) and Nick Blankenburg (ankle) to long-term injuries. They joined defensemen Adam Boqvist (broken foot) and Erik Gudbranson (upper-body) along with forwards Justin Danforth (shoulder), Sean Kuraly (upper-body) and Jakub Voracek (upper-body) as unavailable.
Emil Bemstrom, Brendan Gaunce and defenseman Gavin Bayreuther dressed for just the second time this season, defenseman Marcus Bjork made his NHL debut and defenseman Jake Christiansen was making his season’s debut.
Bjork’s first NHL goal, a blast from inside the right circle after Mathew Barzal’s turnover, gave the Blue Jackets a 3-2 lead at 9:38 of the third period.
The Blue Jackets opened the scoring on Cole Sillinger’s power-play goal at 3:09 of the second period. The Islanders’ penalty kill entered Saturday still ranked third in the NHL. But it has struggled since starting the season 28-for-28 and they have now allowed at least one man-advantage goal in seven of their last eight games.
Johnny Gaudreau missed an open look at the net off the right post at 3:47 of the second period as the Islanders were fortunate not to fall into a two-goal deficit. Gaudreau was booed frequently after leaving the Flames for a seven-year, $68.25 million deal as an unrestricted free agent despite what was believed to be interest from the Islanders.
Nelson tied it at 1-1 at 7:27 of the second period, redirecting Mayfield’s feed to the crease seconds after Korpisalo made a strong save on him. It was the Islanders’ first goal in 92:57 after they lost 2-0 to the visiting Coyotes on Thursday night.
Nelson notched his second goal from the right circle off defenseman Sebastian Aho’s feed with 44.6 seconds to go in the second period, tying it at 2-2. Bemstrom had lifted a backhander at the crease to give the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead at 10:15.
The Islanders outshot the Blue Jackets, 22-15, in the second period, including five on their first power play after a hooking call on Liam Foudy at 12:38 as their top unit kept the puck on the offensive zone for all two minutes.
Korpisalo made several noteworthy saves in the first period. He stopped Parise’s redirection try at the crease just 11 seconds in, got a piece of Oliver Wahlstrom’s shortside shot from the right circle at 8:16 and denied Nelson’s backhander as he was sprung to the crease at 12:27.
