COLUMBUS, Ohio _ Much of the pregame talk Saturday in advance of the Islanders' game against the Blue Jackets centered on how Columbus would react in its first game back from the league-mandated five-day, in-season break.
Most teams have struggled to regain their footing in such situations. But there was no such luck for the Islanders, who watched the home team streak to a 3-0 lead after one period at Nationwide Arena and coast to a 7-0 victory.
This was not what interim coach Doug Weight had in mind for Game 3 of the Isles' nine-game road swing, not after back-to-back victories in Detroit and Montreal in which the Islanders outscored their opponents, 6-1.
The loss kept the Islanders in a tie (based on points and not including tiebreakers) for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth, but every point is precious at this stage, so the team will have to do better when it hits the road again for the next six games, starting Thursday in Dallas.
The first goal Saturday for Columbus (38-16-5) was a bad break for the Islanders (29-22-10). Jack Johnson fired the puck in the direction of the net and it bounced in off the right thigh of Nick Leddy and past Thomas Greiss at 5:19.
But the second goal was a soft one for Greiss. Cam Atkinson shot from the left circle and Greiss initially seemed to stop the puck, but it squirted past him and into the crease, where Boone Jenner jammed it home to make it 2-0 at 12:21.
The Islanders survived a man-down situation, during which the Blue Jackets' Sam Gagner hit a post, but with 1:43 left in the opening period Nick Foligno pushed a backhand past Greiss off a nifty pass from Alexander Wennberg.
It was a shocking start for the Islanders, given how good they had looked in Montreal and how strongly Weight had emphasized the importance of a strong first period before the game.
Things did not improve measurably in the second period, during which the Blue Jackets scored two more goals and added 16 more shots on goal. J-F Berube replaced Greiss in goal for the second period.
It began with a blast from the slot by Josh Anderson off a feed by Jenner that beat Berube stick side.
The Islanders managed some pretty good offensive chances, but were unable to solve Columbus goalie Joonas Korpisalo.
With 2:16 left in the second, Anderson stole the puck from Thomas Hickey, cruised into the right faceoff circle and ripped a shot past Berube to his stick side to make it 5-0.
At the second intermission the Blue Jackets had a whopping 33 shots on goal.
Foligno flipped a backhander past Berube on a semi-breakaway in the third to make it 6-0 and David Savard completed the scoring.
