NY Islanders let late lead slip away and leave Columbus empty-handed after 4-2 loss

The New York Islanders let two points slip away Sunday night in Columbus, surrendering a late lead as the Blue Jackets rallied for a 4-2 win at Nationwide Arena to open the Isles’ post-holiday road trip.

The Islanders appeared to be in control through 40 minutes, weathering a chaotic middle period and taking a 2-1 advantage into the third. But defensive breakdowns and missed clears proved costly, as Columbus scored twice in a span of 1:14 to flip the game and hand New York its third loss in four outings.

Kirill Marchenko was the difference-maker, scoring his second goal of the night with 3:19 remaining to snap a 2-2 tie. That goal came just over a minute after Ivan Provorov tied the game on a point shot through traffic. Cole Sillinger added an empty-net goal to seal it.

“They had a ton of pressure in the third and we couldn’t break the pressure,” Anders Lee said. “We were stuck in our zone too much and when you spend 30-40 seconds in your zone, you got to get off the ice because they’re coming right back at you. We weren’t able to turn the tide of that puck possession there.

The Islanders opened slowly but responded well early. Marchenko finished a breakaway at 8:09 of the first period to put Columbus ahead before Max Shabanov answered late in the frame, redirecting a puck off his knee and past Jet Greaves to even the score.

The second period turned volatile when Mathew Barzal was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for a retaliatory two-handed slash following a trip on rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer. Despite losing Barzal, the Islanders steadied themselves and killed off extended penalty time, including a brief 3-on-4 situation.

Bo Horvat rewarded that resilience with his first goal since returning from injury, snapping a wrist shot past Greaves with 6:36 left in the second to give New York a 2-1 lead.

That advantage didn’t hold. Columbus tilted the ice in the third, eventually breaking through against David Rittich, who finished with 31 saves and kept the Islanders in the game until the final minutes

The Isles road trip continues on Tuesday night in Chicago. Face-off is 8:30 PM EST