COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Columbus Blue Jackets gave away a three-goal lead but recovered by scoring twice in the second period and holding on for a 6-4 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night at Nationwide Arena.
Zach Werenski, Markus Nutivaara, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Seth Jones, Nick Foligno and Josh Anderson each had a goal to help keep the Blue Jackets (20-11-1) in first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Josh Bailey had a hat trick and Casey Cizikas added a goal for the Islanders (17-12-3), who played for the third time in four days. Captain John Tavares had three assists for New York, which was were coming off a 5-2 loss at home to the Dallas Stars one night earlier.
Oliver Bjorkstrand had three assists, and Artemi Panarin and Wennberg two each for the Blue Jackets. Panarin has 12 points, including 10 assists, in the past seven games.
Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky picked up the win despite giving up four goals in the game and nine in his past two starts. He finished with 21 saves.
After the Blue Jackets were embarrassed on Tuesday night in a 7-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, they appeared to be releasing their frustration after jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first period.
But the Islanders rallied with three straight goals in the second to tie it. The Blue Jackets responded with two goals to end the period and reclaim the lead.
Bailey scored two of his three goals in the second, including one that tied it.
Jones' fourth goal of the season off a setup pass from Cam Atkinson put the Blue Jackets back in front at 15:03 of the second, and Foligno expanded the lead with a shot inside the post after taking a pass from Bjorkstrand.
Bailey's third goal pulled the Islanders within one goal at 7:11 of the third period. They pulled goalie Thomas Greiss inside the final two minutes, but Anderson sealed the outcome with an empty-netter with one second left.
Greiss made 29 saves for the Islanders.
The Blue Jackets opened a 1-0 lead less than four minutes into the game. Werenski was the beneficiary of a setup pass from Panarin that he one-timed past Greiss for his 10th goal of the season.
Less than three minutes later, it was 2-0 after Nutivaara scored his second goal of the season. He crashed the net after the puck bounced in the air off Greiss' pads and knocked it home.
The Blue Jackets expanded their lead at 15:52 of the first when Dubois lifted a long rebound from between the circles past Greiss.
NOTES: Blue Jackets F Brandon Dubinsky will miss six to eight weeks with a fractured orbital bone suffered during a fight near the end of Tuesday night's game against the Edmonton Oilers. Dubinsky leads the team in faceoff wins. ... Columbus called up C Jordan Schroeder from AHL Cleveland and put him on the fourth line. ... C Alan Quine replaced LW Anthony Beauvillier on the Islanders' fourth line. ... Blue Jackets D Ryan Murray remains sidelined with an upper-body injury. He has missed the past eight games but is skating again. ... Islanders G Thomas Greiss started for the first time since he gave up six goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Dec. 5. Greiss entered Wednesday night's game in the second period after G Jaroslav Halak was pulled. ... D Jack Johnson became just the third defenseman to play in 400 career games with the Blue Jackets. ... Islanders F Jason Chimera has the longest current consecutive games streak in the NHL at 220. Teammate Jordan Eberle is second with 182 straight games.
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