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Welcome to the 200 goal club, Brock Nelson.
Nelson earned the feat Tuesday night after netting his career-high 32nd goal this season as the New York Islanders held off the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3.
He’s been on a scoring frenzy this month, finding the back of the net in four straight games for five goals. The center has 13 total in the month of March.
Here was No. 200:
According to NHL public relations, Nelson became the first Islanders player to score at least 13 goals in a calendar month since Ziggy Palffy did in March 1996.
While its nearly impossible for the Islanders to make the postseason, the team has performed well in its last 10 games going 6-3-1 thanks in part to Nelson’s goal scoring abilities.
In today’s game, Josh Bailey, Anthony Beauvillier and Zach Parise also scored as the Islanders snapped a two-game skid. New York moved within two points of Columbus in the standings, but both teams are well behind Washington for the last Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
Semyon Varlamov made 42 saves in the winning effort.
Vladimir Gavrikov scored twice for Columbus, which lost its fourth straight. Oliver Bjorkstrand also scored and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 25 shots. The Blue Jackets played without coach Brad Larsen, who went into COVID-19 protocol earlier Tuesday, along with assistant Steve McCarthy.
Gavrikov put back a rebounded puck after Patrik Laine’s rifle shot from the blue line at 7:20 of the opening period.
Sixteen seconds into a power play, Nelson beat Merzlikins from the far edge of the right circle to even the game. Bailey scored from the low slot off a feed from Jean-Gabriel Pageau to put the Islanders up 2-1 late in the first.
Anthony Beauvillier bounced one in the net off Merzlikins early in the second period, and Parise tapped in a pass from Noah Dobson to push New York’s lead to 4-1.
Gavrikov got his second of the game with a backhand shot late in the second period, and Bjorkstrand got his career-high 24th goal 4 1/2 minutes into the third to make it 4-3. But the comeback fell short as Varlamov held off a 6-on-4 attack late.
The Islanders’ next game is a rematch against the Blue Jackets at UBS Arena this Thursday at 7 p.m.
Reporting from the Associated Press was used in this article.
Top: New York Islanders forward Brock Nelson, left, chases the puck in front of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Eric Robinson during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, March 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
