Islanders get pair of power-play goals in win over Ottawa Senators
Islanders center Kyle MacLean scores against Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg, right, during first-period NHL game action in Ottawa, Ontario, on Sunday. Credit: The Canadian Press via AP/Spencer Colby
OTTAWA, Ontario — The Islanders have done the one-step-forward-two-steps-back shuffle for so long this season, meaning they still need to prove they can play consistent hockey.
But something felt different after Sunday night’s 4-2 win over the Senators at Canadian Tire Centre completed a weekend sweep of a back-to-back set, only the second time the Islanders have won consecutive games this season.
Perhaps this can be a turning point.
Perhaps it has to be.
“A little bit of both,” defenseman Noah Dobson said. “There’s been times where we’ve played good hockey and we haven’t gotten any results. Third periods blowing some leads. Tonight we can build off of it where you get rewarded and you don’t have your best stuff.”
The Islanders (11-11-7), getting back to NHL .500 for the first time since Nov. 23, grinded out a win despite being outshot 31-13. Between the Senators (12-13-2) being stingy in ceding time and space and some puck mismanagement on their end, the Islanders managed only eight shots against goalie Anton Forsberg skating five-on-five.
“We worked on our shooting percentage today,” coach Patrick Roy joked.
“I think we were good in the right moments,” Anders Lee said. “We had to grind it out. It was an ugly one tonight for us. It had to be ugly.”
But Ilya Sorokin stole a win as the Islanders’ power play and penalty kill — both ranked last in the NHL — made a difference in a positive way.
“We played a good game tonight,” said Sorokin, starting on consecutive days for the first time this season after making 28 saves in Saturday night’s 4-3 win over the Hurricanes at UBS Arena. “A lot of blocked shots [21].”
“The story of the game was our goalie,” Roy said. “He was outstanding. He showed why he’s one of the best in the game.”
The power play went 2-for-2, including Kyle Palmieri’s winner at 13:46 of the third period off Lee’s feed, and the penalty kill made two key stops after allowing a second-period man-advantage goal. There was confidence in the Islanders’ third-period play — and 12 saves from Sorokin — instead of another in a succession of blown leads.
“Sorokin was phenomenal,” defenseman Ryan Pulock said. “The PK came up big when we needed it. Obviously, the power play, the difference in the game right there.
“As you win games, there’s a confidence about it. Late in games, guys are feeling more confident than maybe they were a couple of weeks ago. That’s important. It’s not going to switch overnight. You have to put together games and efforts like this and you need to keep building on that.
“This weekend was a good step for us.”
Josh Norris’ power-play goal 37 seconds into the second period tied it at 2-2, but the Islanders killed off a high-sticking penalty on Kyle MacLean at 12:34 of the second period and a trip on Oliver Wahlstrom at 7:16 of the third.
MacLean, getting to the crease for defenseman Dennis Cholowski’s feed, made it 2-1 at 14:48 of the first period after Lee’s power-play rebound of Dobson’s shot tied it at 12:27. Adam Gaudette opened the scoring at 5:37 of the first period on Noah Gregor’s feed to the net.
After snapping a 13-game goal-less drought on Saturday, Bo Horvat clinched it with an empty-netter. He did the same in the Islanders’ 4-2 win in Ottawa on Nov. 7, which was the first time they had won two games in a row this season.
Notes & quotes: Palmieri’s secondary assist on Lee’s first-period power-play goal was his 500th career point . . . The Islanders scored multiple power-play goals in a game for the first time this season. They are 11-for-80 . . . Defenseman Alexander Romanov blocked a game-high five shots . . . All three of the Islanders’ penalties came in the offensive zone . . . Pierre Engvall, a healthy scratch in three of the previous four games, drew in for Hudson Fasching, who had been in the lineup the previous five games. Engvall started on MacLean’s fourth line with Matt Martin after failing to impress Roy when given a chance to play on Brock Nelson’s second line with Palmieri in Thursday’s 5-2 loss to the visiting Kraken . . . Defenseman Grant Hutton remained a healthy scratch.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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