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Isles down Jackets behind strong second period

Jan 11, 2015 - 5:29 AM Columbus, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Martin, Anders Lee and Brian Strait all had second-period goals to lift the New York Islanders to a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Strait added an assist on Kyle Okposo's marker in the third period, with Nikolay Kulemin also lighting the lamp to help the Islanders improve to 4-2-0 on their current seven-game road trip.

"We have some chemistry here," Strait said. "The coach has been doing a great job this year getting us to go in the right direction."

New York outshot the Blue Jackets by a 40-18 margin, with Chad Johnson needing to record just 16 saves to collect the victory. As a result, the Isles stayed a point up on Pittsburgh for first place in the Metropolitan Division, after the Pens nipped the Habs in OT.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 35 saves in Columbus' second 5-2 setback in as many nights, having fallen to Toronto by the same score on Friday. Jack Johnson and Nick Foligno each registered goals in defeat.

"We didn't execute well," Blue Jackets head coach Todd Richards said. "We spent too much time in our own zone."

Martin began New York's second-period barrage by tipping in a Ryan Strome feed during a 3-on-2 rush to snap a 1-1 tie midway through the stanza. Just over 3 1/2 minutes later, Lee beat a defenseless Bobrovsky on a breakaway after stealing the puck from the Jackets' Kevin Connauton.

Strait made it a 4-1 Islanders' lead with his first goal of the season, a quick shot from the left circle that got past Bobrovsky's glove side 2:29 prior to the second intermission.

Foligno knocked in the rebound of Ryan Johansen's initial attempt 3:30 into the third period to bring Columbus back within two. The Blue Jackets mustered few chances thereafter, however, and Okposo sealed the result on a shot that deflected off the skate of Columbus' James Wisniewski and got by Bobrovsky with just over five minutes left.

Kulemin got New York off to a soaring start, re-directing a long drive from Nick Leddy a mere 31 seconds after the opening faceoff. The Isles owned a 16-4 shot advantage for the first period, but Columbus drew even at its conclusion by converting a power-play chance.

With Kulemin in the box for interference, Johnson one-timed a blast from the right point through traffic with 4:42 elapsed in the contest.

Game Notes

The win was only the second for the Islanders as the visitor in the history of this series. New York had gone 1-8 with one tie in its previous 10 trips to Columbus ... Johansen extended his point streak to 10 games with an assist on Foligno's goal, but had a five-game run with at least one goal halted ... Foligno now owns a seven-game point streak, having notched two goals and eight assists over that stretch ... The Islanders conclude their trip Tuesday against the rival Rangers at Madison Square Garden.