The New York Islanders played tough defense and Thomas Greiss took care of the rest.
Greiss on Monday made 31 saves in his fifth shutout of the season, helping the Islanders beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-0 at Nassau Coliseum.
Ryan Pulock and Anders Lee scored as New York (40-22-7) bolstered their playoff positioning in the tough Metropolitan Division. The Islanders improved to 16-8-1 against divisional opponents.
“We played Islanders hockey,” coach Barry Trotz said. “More than anything we raised our battle level. That’s where it starts. At the end of the day Greiss made a couple of saves that were key, we got some key blocks and that’s how the Islanders win.”
Columbus (38-28-3) lost for the fourth time in six games, dropping into a tie with Montreal for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves, but the Blue Jackets were unable to get to the steady Greiss.
“It’s a team that has been able to score goals this year, but since the deadline we’ve been inconsistent,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “It’s frustrating, but I liked the way we played, I liked the way we forechecked. I liked a lot of things about our game, but we just did not finish.”
Columbus have been shut out twice in their past three games. They have scored two goals or fewer in five of their past six games.
Pulock put the Islanders in front when he drove a slap-shot by Bobrovsky 6 minutes, 11 seconds into the first period.
Pulock surpassed his point total from his rookie year, registering his 33rd point of his sophomore season.
Cal Clutterbuck assisted on the play in his first game back since being sidelined for three games with a minor upper-body injury.
“Whole team was battling,” said Greiss, who shut out the Blue Jackets for the second time this season. “We didn’t give them too much, we played a tight game. Most of the shots came from the outside, guys did a great job of blocking shots.”
Lee added an empty-netter in the final period.
Also on Monday, it was:
‧ Sharks 3, Wild 0
‧ Flyers 3, Senators 2
‧ Hurricanes 3, Avalanche 0
‧ Lightning 6, Maple Leafs 2
‧ Blackhawks 7, Coyotes 1
‧ Oilers 3, Rangers 2, OT
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