Islanders vs Blue Jackets Three takeaways – Returning to their identity

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 30: Adam Pelech #3 and Semyon Varlamov #40 of the New York Islanders celebrate a 2-0 shut-out against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Barclays Center on November 30, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

3. This was an Islander team getting back to winning the way we expect

The Islanders played a defensive and physical game, the style we have come to expect under Barry Trotz. They were aggressive on the forecheck and overall pretty good in their own zone. There were points in the first period that I thought the Islanders looked a little out of place in their own zone but that seemed to improve throughout the game.

Columbus outshot the Islanders 39-27 for the game, continuing to defy some of the more offensive-minded analytics some are using these days. But then again we’re used to the Islanders not winning the Corsi battle. That narrative defined their entire 103 points 2018-19 season.

Overall, this was a much needed Islander win with very good goaltending, good defense and opportune goal scoring. They end their three-game losing streak, gain two points against an Eastern Conference rival and now head to Detroit and Montreal for a back to back games on Monday and Tuesday.

Other game notes and comments:

Other than the Bailey-Lee-Barzal line, the “best fourth line” in hockey of Martin-Clutterbuck-Cizikas was the next most effective.

To me, it seemed the lines of Brassard-Koivula-Komarov and Beauvillier-Nelson-Eberle were just okay. The two best players on those lines were Brassard and Beau and I would like to see them back playing on the same line.