COLUMBUS, Ohio — Josh Bailey’s hat trick proved not to be enough to rally the Islanders on Thursday in a 6-4 loss to the Blue Jackets.
Zach Werenski had a goal and an assist for Columbus, and Sergei Bobrovsky knocked down 21 shots as the Blue Jackets held off multiple comeback attempts by the Islanders.
Markus Nutivaara, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Seth Jones, Nick Foligno and Josh Anderson also scored for the Blue Jackets, who snuffed out an Islanders comeback attempt in the second and third periods, led by Baily’s trio of goals.
The Islanders (17-12-3) were a point behind Columbus and Washington coming into the game, but the Blue Jackets found various ways to beat Thomas Greiss, who finished the game with 29 saves. The Isles tied the score 3-3 in the second period and pulled back within one in the final frame but couldn’t grab the lead.
Columbus (20-11-1) has won 11 of its past 15 and is in a knot of teams battling for supremacy in the tough Metropolitan Division.
Casey Cizikas also scored for New York, and John Tavares had two assists.
The Islanders have lost six of their last eight games.