DiPietro, Islanders shut out Columbus



The New York goalie stopped 26 shots for his third shutout of the year.
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- Rick DiPietro stopped 26 shots for his third shutout this season and the New York Islanders' first win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-0 on Saturday night.
Jason Blake, Trent Hunter, Mike Sillinger and Viktor Kozlov each scored for New York, 0-5-2 in seven previous games against Columbus. Alexei Yashin and Radek Martinek had two assists apiece.
Fredrik Norrena made 18 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have alternated wins and losses in their last five contests.
Columbus controlled the puck early in the game.
However, after Sergei Fedorov rang a shot off the post, the Islanders came back on a 3-on-1 break and took a 1-0 lead on Blake's 20-foot wrist shot just 2:02 into the game.
Blake, playing in the final year of his contract, leads the team with 20 goals.
Play well when ahead
The Islanders are now 12-0-1 when leading after one period, and the Blue Jackets are 0-11-0 when trailing after 20 minutes.
Hunter made it 2-0 for New York at 6:33 of the second period.
His one-timer from the lower left circle beat Norrena high to the short side.
DiPietro's toughest save came during a power play just after the goal, as he made a kick save on Duvie Westcott's screened slap shot.
Sillinger connected for a power-play goal at 2:41 of the final period, and Kozlov capped the scoring with his 13th goal at 9:01.
Notes
Columbus made only its third appearance at Nassau Coliseum, winning the two previous trips. ... DiPietro has nine career shutouts. ... Islanders forward Arron Asham was back in the lineup after missing two games with a wrist injury. ... Blue Jackets defenseman Adam Foote needs five more games to reach 900 for his career. ... The Islanders are still perfect this season on the second night of back-to-back games, raising their mark to 6-0-0.
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