Islanders 6, Blue Jackets 3
Captain John Tavares collected two goals and two assists while Josh Bailey scored twice and set up a tally in his 450th career contest as host New York skated to its fourth straight victory.
Frans Nielsen netted his first goal in 13 games and added an assist for the first-place Islanders, who have won 11 consecutive contests against Metropolitan rivals and improved to 18-2-0 versus division foes. Ryan Strome also tallied, rookie Anders Lee collected four assists and Jaroslav Halak finished with 34 saves.
Cam Atkinson netted his fourth goal in five contests for the Blue Jackets, who were unable to sustain their momentum after rallying from a two-goal deficit in the third period en route to a 4-3 overtime victory over Philadelphia on Friday. Nick Foligno added his team-leading 22nd tally, Brandon Dubinsky also scored and Anton Forsberg turned aside 40 shots in falling to 0-3-0.
Defenseman Thomas Hickey's slap pass from the left faceoff circle connected with Nielsen, who swept the bouncing puck home from the right doorstep at 1:54 of the third period to give New York a 4-3 lead. Tavares provided insurance with a turnaround shot from the right circle at 7:08 before adding his team-leading 26th goal just over four minutes later.
After Bailey staked New York to a quick 2-0 lead, Columbus forged a tie as Dubinsky converted a 2-on-1 rush at 15:45 and Atkinson took advantage of Islanders defenseman Brian Strait's failure to hit a bouncing puck by beating Halak between the pads with 32 seconds left in the session. Strome cleaned up the rebound of blue-liner Lubomir Visnovsky's shot at 7:02 of the second to give New York a 3-2 lead, but Foligno went to the net and converted a centering feed from Scott Hartnell with 32 seconds remaining in the period.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Bailey converted a loose puck near the skates of Lee 67 seconds into the game before scoring from along the end line at 8:21 to give New York the early advantage. ... Strome's goal accounted for his first point in nine contests. ... Columbus failed on all four power-play opportunities and fell to 1-for-24 in its last 10 games.