Greiss shutout keeps Isles on winning track

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Platooning two goalies is working out just fine for coach Barry Trotz and the surprising Islanders.

Thomas Greiss took his turn Thursday night and responded by stopping 31 shots and picking up his fourth shutout of the season in a 3-0 win over the Blue Jackets.

The 33-year-old German improved this season to 17-8-2 and stayed neck-and-neck with teammate Robin Lehner, who is 17-9-4. The Islanders, who began the night three points ahead of the Capitals atop the Metropolitan Division, won for the fifth time in seven games and are 10-2-2 in their past 14.

Greiss was outstanding in getting his 12th career shutout and third his past five starts, and the Islanders showed why they are tops in the NHL in keeping opponents’ pucks out of their net. Greiss lowered his goals-against average to 2.18 — second in the NHL to Lehner’s 2.08.

“They’ve both been good, and we’ve been keeping them fresh,” Trotz said. “Both have responded, so there’s no reason to sort of ride one when we can probably ride both of them. We’ll see.”

After turning away every Columbus shot, Greiss deflected the credit.

“The boys make me look good out there,” he said. “Everybody is battling hard, a lot of blocked shots, no rebounds, so it was a great team win.”

Casey Cizikas scored twice on breakaways, and Josh Bailey also had a goal for the Islanders.

“Whenever we go into a game with the two netminders that we have right now, we have a lot of confidence, and we believe in each other,” Cizikas said.