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Columbus Blue Jackets end upstart season with 6-1 rout of New York Islanders
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- Columbus Blue Jackets end upstart season with 6-1 rout of New York Islanders
They won't get a chance to keep it going in the postseason, but the Blue Jackets stormed into the offseason April 17 at Nationwide Arena like a playoff team.
Despite dealing with the disappointment of the Montreal Canadiens eliminating them the night before, the Blue Jackets finished with a 6-1 blowout of the New York Islanders . Afterward, they remained on the ice to salute an announced sellout crowd of 18,874 that loudly returned the gesture.
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Backed again with a stellar performance in net from rookie goalie Jet Greaves (36 saves), the Blue Jackets (40-33-9) finished the season with 89 points, two behind Montreal for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Zach Werenski , Cole Sillinger , Dante Fabbro , Dmitri Voronkov , Sean Kuraly and Adam Fantilli scored goals for the Jackets, who busted the game open with five goals in the second period. Greaves nearly pitched a third straight shutout, extending his streak of not allowing a goal to 173:38 before Hudson Fasching ended it with 5:12 left.
The streak began with a goal by Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin , who scored 1:10 into the Blue Jackets' 4-1 victory April 13 in Washington. Columbus still had playoff life at that point and stayed alive with a 3-0 victory April 15 in Philadelphia .
The dream ended with the Canadiens' victory April 16 over the Carolina Hurricanes , who rested seven lineup regulars, but the Blue Jackets made sure they didn't end a remarkable upstart season as underdogs with a loss.
Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Dmitri Voronkov (10) celebrates scoring a goal during the second period of the NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on April 17, 2025.
After a first period without a goal either way, the Blue Jackets seized control with five unanswered goals in the second.
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Sillinger got it started with his 11thgoal of the season just 2:21 into the period, and his tally was followed by goals from Fabbro at 7:43, Voronkov at 10:09, Kuraly at 15:14 and Werenski with 2:33 left to essentially put the game out of reach.
Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves (73) watches as center Cole Sillinger (4) corralls a puck during the second period of the NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on April 17, 2025.
Werenski's goal, which pushed his franchise record for goals by a defenseman in a season to 22, capped a beautiful pass from Sean Monahan off an off-man rush.
Between all those goals, Greaves continued his outstanding play in net to keep New York from scoring. The Jackets were outshot 25-17 in the first two periods and Greaves stopped all 25 to continue a shutout streak that began after Alex Ovechkin scored his 896th career goal.
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The streak ended late in the third, courtesy of Fasching's goal, but Fantilli got it back by scoring the Jackets' final goal of the season for his 31st of the campaign. The win over the Islanders also upped the Blue Jackets' franchise record to 16 games scoring at least six goals — about 20% of their season.
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets blow out New York Islanders to close out season
