Noah Dobson had a goal and an assist and Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves as the visiting New York Islanders won 4-2 over the Ottawa Senators on Monday night.
New York’s Mathew Barzal recorded two assists while Oliver Wahlstrom and ex-Senator Jean-Gabriel Pageau each scored. Brock Nelson added an empty-netter for the Islanders, who killed off five of Ottawa’s six power-play opportunities. New York has won four straight against the Senators and 10 of the past 11 matchups.
Claude Giroux extended his point streak to nine games with a goal and an assist and Drake Batherson also scored for the Senators, who couldn’t build on a 4-1 win at Philadelphia on Saturday that snapped a 0-6-1 rut.
Tim Stutzle logged two assists for Ottawa, which had numerous scoring chances but was often stymied by Varlamov while taking a fifth straight home defeat.
New York opened the scoring on its second power-play chance of the first period. Anders Lee threaded a seam pass to Wahlstrom, who snapped a laser over the pad of Ottawa netminder Cam Talbot (31 saves) with 8:07 remaining in the opening frame.
Ottawa tied it 8:48 into the second period, when Batherson’s shot was too quick for Varlamov to stop during the early stages of a brief five-on-three power play. However, the Senators were unable to take advantage of roughly 3 1/2 minutes of five-on-four power-play time that followed.
The good fortune then stayed on the Islanders’ side. With 6:45 remaining in the middle frame, Dobson threw a shot at the net, but on the way, it deflected off two Senators and by Talbot.
Pageau gave the Islanders their second power-play score of the contest and a 3-1 lead at 8:21 into the third. Barzal’s assist was his 18th on the season, although he has yet to post a goal in 17 games.
Giroux made things interesting with 6:52 remaining in regulation, but Varlamov was stout the rest of the way and Nelson sealed the result for New York.
Monday’s 5:30 p.m. ET scheduled puck drop allowed fans to remain in the building and watch the Hockey Hall of Fame introduction of Senators legend Daniel Alfredsson.
–Field Level Media
