Takeaways: Isles Beat Senators 4-2 in Full Team Effort

The New York Islanders skated to their second straight win on Thursday night, beating the Ottawa Senators 4-2 at Canadian Tire Centre.

Anders Lee, JG Pageau, Oliver Wahlstrom and Bo Horvat (EN) scored for the Islanders, while Nick Jensen and Drake Batherson scored third period goals for the Senators. Semyon Varlamov stopped 28 of 30 shots faced, while Anton Forsberg turned aside 21 of 24.

The teams swapped a pair of penalties each in the first period, as the Isles went 2-for-2 on the kill in the frame. Casey Cizikas made an impressive play on the penalty kill, guarding the post and chipping the puck away when it was loose in the slot. Nelson had a quality chance late in the middle frame that was stifled by Forsberg.

To break open the scoring, Bo Horvat made a sharp pass from behind the net to Anders Lee in the slot, whose shot cleanly beat Forsberg at 15:48 of the second period. The Isles kept pushing and doubled their lead 2:33 after Lee’s tally. Pageau sprung into a semi-breakaway and wristed a shot through Forsberg to take a 2-0 lead for the Isles.

Wahlstrom corralled the puck in the right circle and shelfed a shot through Forsberg on a backhand to extend the Islanders lead to 3-0 at the 2:41 mark of the third period. The Senators retaliated shortly after, with Nick Jensen wristing a shot from the left circle to pull the Sens within two.

Drake Batherson made it a one-goal game with a power-play tally at the 14:27 mark of the third period, but the Islanders held on for the win. Horvat buried an empty-net goal to make it a three-point night (1G, 2A) to seal the deal for a win against an Eastern Conference opponent.

"It was outstanding tonight," Head Coach Patrick Roy said of his team's effort. "We played with patience, and I thought we played the right way. That's the reason we won that game. They made a push towards the second half of the third period, but I thought our guys did a really nice job. I was pleased with the focus that we have. It was a four-point game, so it was an important one."

WAHLSTROM NETS GAME-WINNER, LINE ADDS SPARK

The new-look line of Matt Martin, Kyle MacLean and Oliver Wahlstrom connected for a goal that provided important insurance and eventually held up as the game-winner, extending the lead to 3-0.

The line was strong on the forecheck as MacLean intercepted Forsberg’s attempt to clear the puck from behind his net, allowing Martin to cause havoc in the low slot. Wahlstrom picked up the loose change and beat Forsberg with a backhander.

Roy has previously expressed he’s looking for energy out of his first line, but said it was encouraging for the trio to contribute offense.

"That was a big goal by Wahlstrom," Roy said. "That's the forecheck we wanted and that's the intensity that they brought. I thought they had a good game."

The goal was Wahlstrom’s first of the year – his last tally was Nov. 24, 2023 in Ottawa – and marked the first goal the fourth line has netted all season.

VARLY STANDS TALL IN WIN

Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves and came up big for the Islanders – both in moments early on to keep the game scoreless and held on in the third to protect the lead – in his second win of the season.

"He was super solid, he was outstanding," Lee said. "When they did have some good looks, they had some good shots, they he was standing tall."

The Senators peppered Varlamov with 15 shots in the second period. In an intense sequence he stopped Tim Stützle’s shot from the point and a made a blocker save on Thomas Chabot’s rebound attempt down low early in the second period to keep it scoreless.

When the Senators made a comeback attempt with two goals in the third period, Varlamov held on and made an important save with the left pad through traffic in final minute.

LINEUP NOTES

Isaiah George played in his second NHL game and first on the road with the Islanders and had another solid outing. The 20-year-old played with Noah Dobson, logging a career-high 23:59 and tied Ryan Pulock for the team lead of four shots.

"He skates well, he moves really well on the ice," Roy said of George. "I thought that for a guy who is [playing] his second game, he was getting more and more confident out there. I was very pleased with the way he played."

Matt Martin drew into the lineup for Hudson Fasching on a line with Kyle MacLean and Oliver Wahlstrom. Martin recorded one assist, one blocked shot, one hit in 5:24 TOI.

ODDS AND ENDS

- Lee’s fourth goal of the season off a feed from Horvat opened the scoring at 35:48 into the game. It marked the first time in six games that the Islanders got on the board first.

- With two points against the Senators, Lee’s point streak was extended to four games (1G, 5A).

- Horvat had a pair of primary helpers and an empty net goal in his third multi-point game in his last four outings. Th center has 12 points (5G, 7A) through 14 games on the season.

- Max Tsyplakov led with four hits.

NOTABLE QUOTE

Horvat on the team playing consistently and seeing winning results:

"Honestly, I think we're just starting to kind of get rewarded for things we've been doing. We've been doing a lot of good stuff through throughout the course of the year. We're finally starting to get rewarded for playing well defensively, and we're starting to bury our chances. We just got to keep that going."

NEXT GAME

The Islanders return home to host the New Jersey Devils for Military Appreciation Night. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.