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Third-period surge sends Blue Jackets over Isles

Nov 10, 2013 - 4:28 AM Columbus, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Johansen each collected a goal and two assists as the Columbus Blue Jackets posted a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders to halt a five-game skid.

The Blue Jackets got three unanswered goals from R.J. Umberger, Cam Atkinson and James Wisniewski in the third period to end their longest winless stretch since an 0-5-1 rut in December of 2011. Wisniewski added an assist on the evening, while Sergei Bobrovsky aided Columbus' cause with a 24-save effort between the pipes.

"I thought everybody was on the same page right from the start," said Johansen. "We were all working together and every line was doing all the little things to get pucks deep, pucks to the net and all that stuff. If you do that continuously throughout the game, you're going to be successful."

The Islanders fell to 0-3-0 on their current four-game road trip despite goals from Frans Nielsen and Thomas Hickey. Evgeni Nabokov stopped 24-of-28 shots in the loss.

With the teams tied at 2-2, New York defenseman Travis Hamonic was sent off for slashing 15 seconds into the final period and the Blue Jackets quickly capitalized.

Stationed in front of the Islanders' net, Umberger redirected a blast from Wisniewski past Nabokov a mere 12 seconds after the Hamonic penalty.

"Our penalty kill let us down again," said Islanders head coach Jack Capuano. "Five-on-five we were right there, we did a lot of good things."

Atkinson made it a 4-2 lead less than three minutes later, tapping a rebound of Johansen's initial shot during a Columbus rush over the glove of Nabokov.

"We lost a battle on Atkinson's goal," Capuano remarked. "It's a game of physicality and we responded the wrong way."

Bobrovsky turned aside all 10 chances he faced in the final frame to keep the Jackets ahead, with Wisniewski putting the final touches on the triumph by firing the puck from deep into his own zone into an empty net with 1:08 left on the clock.

Dubinsky gave Columbus the early upper hand near the tail end of a Jackets' power play, sneaking a backhander that hit the left post in traffic and caromed off Nabokov's right skate and in just 6:25 into the contest.

It remained a 1-0 game until the waning stages of the opening period, when Nielsen skated up the right side and delivered a wrist shot that Bobrovsky couldn't handle and went through his legs 35 seconds prior to the intermission.

Johansen blocked a shot attempt from Hickey near the midway mark of the second period, with Dubinsky corralling the loose puck and sending it back to Johansen for a successful breakaway that put the Blue Jackets back on top.

The Islanders answered a little over four minutes afterward. Bobrovsky stopped John Tavares from in close, but the New York captain snared the rebound and delivered a behind-the-net feed that Hickey ripped home for his second career NHL goal.

Game Notes

Islanders forward Thomas Vanek left the contest just 23 seconds in after being slashed on his hand ... The Islanders failed to score on their lone power play and are now 0-for-22 with the man advantage over their last seven outings ... Hickey was skating in his 56th career NHL game ... Columbus has prevailed in 11 of 16 all-time meetings with New York with one tie, while the Islanders have won just once with a tie in their nine visits to Nationwide Arena.