HOW IT HAPPENED
The Islanders came out of the gate strong, with a 17-shot effort in the opening 20 of a crucial game for both teams.
Engvall faked out Zach Werenski in the left dot and ripped a shot past Merzlikins at the 13:16 mark of the first period. Building on the momentum, Palmieri raced to open ice in the slot, received a Horvat pass from behind the goal line and buried a beauty past Merzlikins to grab a 2-0 lead late in the first period.
The Blue Jackets found momentum early into the second period after killing off a Damon Severson penalty, as Fantilli carried the puck into the Isles zone, where he snapped a shot past Sorokin to get the Blue Jackets within one at the 5:31 mark .
Jenner got a lucky break and scored a shorthanded goal 15 seconds into an Islanders power play to tie the game at the 17:13 mark of the second period.
The Isles stuck with it and regained the lead when Lee deflected a shot from Mike Reilly at the point with under a minute left in the frame. The goal was challenged by Blue Jackets Head Coach Dean Evason for goaltender interference but was upheld.
Following a dominant shot advantage of 27-11 after 40 minutes, the Islanders started to unravel and were outshot 17-4 in the third period. The Islanders power play struggled, going 0-for-3 in the contest.
“We didn’t play well in the third,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “We were outstanding in the first we were good in the second, we didn’t give much. Other than this, we had a strong game. But in the third period we stopped playing in their zone, we lost a lot of battles. We had a power play to start [the third] and I thought we didn’t compete hard enough.”
Columbus found the equalizer after an offensive zone faceoff with under eight minutes left in the third period. Marchenko whipped a shot at the right circle that got past Sorokin, who was screened on the play.
In a chaotic sequence in the final 10 seconds of the third period, Palmieri got his stick on an Alexander Romanov blast from the point, but the goal was disallowed immediately for goaltender interference. Palmieri made contact with Merzlikins outside of the crease and was shoved forward before making the deflection.
While there appeared to be time for the Columbus netminder to reset on the play, the call on the ice was reviewed and confirmed by the situation room in Toronto, leaving the Isles frustrated after they’ve seen several goals disallowed as of late, including two in a 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Mar. 11.
“We’ve had so many called back in the last week or two,” Horvat said. “it’s just really getting frustrating when we’re pushing for a playoff spot. That’s obviously a game-winning goal late in a hockey game.”
After an intense, but scoreless five-minute overtime, Fantilli scored the only goal in the shootout to win the game for Columbus.
“It was a tough pill to swallow with the decision at the end of the game,” Lee sad. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get the extra one after that.”
