Follow me on Twitter:
@BenShelley_20
Follow HockeyBuzz Islanders on Twitter:
@HB_Islanders
The New York Islanders finally snapped their 11-game losing streak tonight, beating the Ottawa Senators by a score of 5-3.
It was a very slow first period, where the Islanders showed pretty much no urgency to get anything going. They were outshot 9-3 and took two penalties, but killed them off without letting the Senators build a ton of momentum. That said, Ilya Sorokin was forced to make a pretty huge save with about a minute to go, sliding over to rob Tim Stutzle and keep the game scoreless.
Anders Lee would get the Islanders on the board early in the second period, as he got the puck in front of the net and missed on his initial shot, but got the bank off the boards and backhanded it in. Scott Mayfield would take a high-sticking penalty though and the Senators capitalized, with Drake Batherson feeding a nice pass to Josh Norris, who snuck a shot through Sorokin.
Oliver Wahlstrom would get the lead back for the Islanders later in the period though, with a good move in-close to go to the backhand and throw off Filip Gustavsson. Then just after that, Anders Lee poked a puck by Gustavsson off a shot that bounced back off the glass, to give the Islanders a 3-1 lead. We also saw one of the most unlikely pairings for (kind of) a fight, as Noah Dobson and Tim Stutzle squared off for a quick showdown.
The Islanders extended their lead in the third period, as Oliver Wahlstrom did a good job chasing down a loose puck and getting it over to Austin Czarnik, who put it to Kieffer Bellows and Bellows was able to roof it over Gustavsson. The Senators cut the lead to 4-2, as a puck banked in off Noah Dobson in front, but Jean-Gabriel Pageau buried a loose puck a little later on, to get back the three-goal lead. The Islanders did give up a shorthanded goal to Alex Formenton but would hang on for the victory.
So the Islanders finally got back in the win column. There were some good individual efforts by forwards to get to pucks in front of the net and the team put together a solid third period in particular. The Islanders did take way too many penalties and were outshot by a 33-27 margin but hopefully this win is a sign of things to come.
They’ll now return home for their next two games, seeking for their first win at UBS Arena.
***We've launched a HockeyBuzz Islanders Twitter account! For anyone interested, you can follow
@HB_Islanders for updates on articles, Islanders news, etc.***
SuperSurvey
OTHER ARTICLES FROM DECEMBER
Islanders’ losing streak reaches 11 games 
New York Islanders Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»