Miles Wood(4) and Denton Mateychuk(3) scored the goals for the visiting CBJ, and Elvis Merzlikins was phenomenal, making 36 saves in a 3-2 loss to the Islanders on Sunday night.
Columbus allowed two goals in 29 seconds to lose.
The game was absolutely dominated by the New York Islanders, but Elvis Merzlikins was the singular reason this game was even close down the stretch. He made some huge saves throughout the game to frustrate NYI.
Many people thought moving Miles Wood up to the second line was a mistake by Dean Evason, but Wood proved them wrong. He scored a goal, a shot, and punished rookie Matthew Schaefer with a huge hit late in the first period.
In the end, they probably didn't deserve to win this game, but it's frustrating, nonetheless.
Dean Evason mentioned postgame that Denton Mateychuk is a bit "banged up."
First Period - 1-0 Islanders - SOG 18-3 Islanders
The first period didn't start too well for the CBJ. They looked slow, sluggish, and lived in their defensive zone for large chunks of the period. When Damon Severson took a penalty early in the first, rookie Matthew Schaefer wasted no time putting the Isles up 1-0. He blasted one past Elvis for his 4th goal of the season.
By midway through the period, the Jackets were being outshot 13-2 and had no sign of offense. The Jackets, despite not really putting shots on goal, started to get their legs under them and push back a little.
Jackets forward Miles Wood put a legal hit on Matthew Schaefer late in the period. Jean-Gabriel Pageau of the Isles responded immediately with a hit that probably should've been called for boarding but wasn't. Wood looked very shaken up by the play.
Elvis Merzlikins stopped 17 of 18 NYI shots to keep the Jackets alive despite being shelled for most of the period.
Second Period - 1-1 - SOG 28-17 Islanders
The second period didn't start any better for the Jackets. In the first five minutes of the period, they were outshot 4-2. The Jackets even had a power play when Mathew Barzal went off for hooking Kirill Marchenko, but they couldn't muster any good chances.
Midway through the second period, nothing had changed. The Isles dominated the shot clock and were winning the faceoff battle 68.2% to 31.8%. New York was also punishing the Blue Jackets in Corsi, Fenwick, and all scoring chances.
Columbus earned another power play when Tony DeAngelo slashed Kirill Marchenko. They couldn't muster any offense once again.
At 15:19 of the second, the Jackets finally broke through. Miles Wood scored his fourth goal of the season when Adam Fantilli served him up with an amazing pass. Wood was waiting on Rittich's right side to tuck one home to tie the game. The goal was also assisted by Boone Jenner.
The Jackets drew another penalty with 3:40 left when Anthony Duclair hooked Isac Lundestrom. They again couldn't score on the power play.
Third Period
As in the previous two periods, the Islanders came out flying and took it to the Jackets. They outshot Columbus 4-0 in the first 7 minutes of the period, but Elvis stood tall and kept them in it. The Jackets again looked sluggish and tired.
At 12:10 of the third, all the patience paid off when youngster Denton Mateychuk scored to make it 2-1. It was his third goal of the season. At the time of the goal, the Jackets were being outshot 34-20 and had been pressured the entire period.
Matthew Schaefer scored his second of the game with 1:07 left in the period to tie it. Just 29 seconds later, Simon Holmstrom scored the game-winner to make it 3-2. An absolute meltdown at the end of the game.
It's worth noting that the referees called off a goal after saying Charlie Coyle interfered with the Isles' goalie. We will agree to disagree, but no one outside of UBS Arena thought that was goalie interference.
Final Stats
Player Stats
- Miles Wood scored his 4th goal of the season.
- Denton Mateychuk scored his 3rd goal of the year.
- Adam Fantilli tallied his 4th assist.
- Boone Jenner recorded his 5th assist.
- Kirill Marchenko had an assist, his 7th.
- Sean Monahan got his 5th assist
- Elvis Merzlikins stopped 36 of 39 Islanders shots.
Team Stats
- The CBJ went 0/4 on the power play.
- The Jackets PK went 1/2 on the night.
- Columbus only won 31.9% of the faceoffs.
What's Next: They head out to Western Canada to take on the Calgary Flames on Wednesday, Nov. 5th, the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, Nov. 8th, and then the Edmonton Oilers on Monday, Nov. 10th. They will wrap up their Western swing with a matchup against the Seattle Kraken.
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