NEW YORK _ The atmosphere was electric, a Long Island-heavy fan base welcoming the Islanders back to their past and now present home with the first regular-season game at the refurbished Nassau Coliseum since 2015.
But heavily-anticipated homecoming aside, Saturday night also marked another key Metropolitan Division matchup for the Islanders, battling to remain in a tight race from which the Blue Jackets and Capitals seem to be edging ahead.
The Islanders rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period and Casey Cizikas, one of the team's stalwarts from their previous tenure at the Coliseum, scored the decisive goal in a 3-2 win before a sell-out crowd of 13,917.
The Islanders (13-9-3) snapped a two-game losing streak and pulled within three points of the second-place Blue Jackets (15-9-2).
Thomas Greiss made 28 saves, going into a split to stop Cam Atkinson's rebound attempt at the crease at 15:39 of the third period, and Jordan Eberle and defenseman Scott Mayfield each had two assists for the Islanders.
The Blue Jackets' Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots, including a miraculous save on Leo Komarov at the crease to keep the score 3-2.
Defenseman Ryan Pulock started the play on the winning goal by stick-handling along the right boards and winding up behind the crease as Cizikas skated clear to the front. Pulock fed the puck and Cizikas slammed it past Bobrovsky from just above the blue paint at 7:09 of the third period.
The pre-game warmups were punctuated with loud "Let's Go Islanders" chants and when Regina Wilson of the New York Fire Department sang the national anthem, the pumped-up crowd joined with her to form one loud voice halfway through.
Islanders coach Barry Trotz, not surprisingly, put Cizikas' unit with Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck along with defensemen Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk on the ice to start the game since all five are a direct link to the Coliseum's history as the team's home rink. Trotz has said numerous times since the start of training camp that his fourth line helps set the identity for the team.
Of course, the Islanders' real identity is, simply, the Coliseum.
"I've always said that's where it belongs," Trotz said.
The Islanders now have 20 regular-season games remaining at the Coliseum _ the next one on Dec. 10 against the Penguins _ and just nine more at Barclays Center, including Tuesday night against the Jets.
Cizikas' line certainly helped fuel the crowd's energy in the first period with its physical play and Anders Lee drew a roughing penalty along with Blue Jackets defenseman David Savard at 11:59 as the captain protected Brock Nelson at Columbus' crease.
But boos were heard during the Islanders' ineffectual, early-second period power play and the crowd went silent after the Blue Jackets built a 2-0 lead. Markus Hannikainen, getting back to his skates and getting open in the left circle after being dumped by Boychuk seconds earlier, knocked in defenseman Seth Jones' rebound at 6:46.
Pierre-Luc Dubois, from nearly the same spot, made it 2-0 at 8:33 after the Islanders could not clear the zone.
But Lee's video-reversed goal at 11:59 _ Eberle's shot went in off his torso as he crashed to the net _ brought the Islanders within 2-1 and revved up the crowd again. Anthony Beauvillier, keeping the puck on a two-on-one rush with Mathew Barzal and knocking in his own rebound, tied the game at 2 at 15:24 of the second period.
