Islanders, Semyon Varlamov blank Blue Jackets in strong defensive effort

COLUMBUS, Ohio — After four consecutive games of the goaltender getting shelled, the Islanders needed a return to fundamentals every bit as much as they needed a second straight win on Saturday night.

And a return to fundamentals is exactly what they got at Nationwide Arena, putting together a rock-solid, defense-first 2-0 win over the Blue Jackets, marking the first shutout of the year for Semyon Varlamov, who finished with 35 saves.

Even in beating Ottawa on Thursday in a game that required 45 saves of Ilya Sorokin, the Islanders were playing with fire. It looked a little too much like Doug Weight’s teams for comfort, even if the record was reasonably fine.

This, however, was the hockey the Islanders played to catapult themselves into being contenders under Barry Trotz. Clogging lanes, getting in front of shots, playing structured in the defensive zone.

Maddening? Boring? Maybe. But you bet it got them two points.

The only point of complaint would be that the game was closer than it needed to be, a product of the Islanders failing to put the game away, particularly late in the second period.

That allowed the Blue Jackets to enter the third with a mere 1-0 deficit to make up.

Their best chance to do so came when Kyle Palmieri was called for hooking 7:22 into the third.

But a pair of golden chances for Jack Roslovic were stopped — first by the left post and second by Semyon Varlamov’s left pad — and the Islanders held the lead.

And with 3:21 to go, Matt Martin sealed the win, cleaning up the garbage on Casey Cizikas’ shot.

Palmieri had opened the scoring 15:45 into the first by potting a rebound after Pierre Engvall harmlessly threw the puck at the net.

Even on a night where the Islanders had Varlamov in goal, it was a moment that orchestrated something.

The Islanders give up plenty of preventable goals, as every team does.

It’s exceedingly rare that they allow one like that, in which the goaltender bears near-complete responsibility.

Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin alike are too solid for that to happen.

Varlamov was not under the sort of barrage that both netminders had been in the four games leading into Saturday — a positive step for a defense that has been taxed without the injured Scott Mayfield.

The defensive issues are the reason a solid start to the season for the Islanders, now 4-2-1, feels a little bit more shaky than the record indicates.

A home win against Arizona was the only game in which they’d made the goaltender’s life easy.

This one does not go quite into the same category, but few will — the Coyotes, after all, were limited to fewer than 20 shots.

But it was a win in which the Islanders were not putting two points on the shoulder of the goalie.

Those are in short supply a little too often around here. So they will happily take it.