Islanders defeat Senators for first win in 12 games

OTTAWA --The New York Islanders won for the first time in 12 games, 5-3 against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday.

"It's incredible to think about what we've gone through in the last month," New York coach Barry Trotz said. "I've never gone through it. These guys have never gone through it."
The Islanders were 0-8-3 in their past 11 games dating to Nov. 6. During that stretch, they had two games postponed -- at the New York Rangers on Nov. 28, and at the Philadelphia Flyers two days later -- because seven players were in COVID-19 protocol.
"The way we just stuck together and battled, I've got to give them a lot of credit," Trotz said. "Finally, they got rewarded. It felt good. It felt good to have a little life in the dressing room after the game. Music blaring and guys ribbing each other."

Anders Lee scored twice, and Oliver Wahlstrom and Kieffer Bellows each had a goal and an assist for the Islanders (6-10-5). Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves.
"I think it's just a sense of relief," Lee said. "It's been a tough stretch. We stuck together and we started to build on our game a little bit the last few nights, but we hadn't been able to get that extra point in overtime. It starts to wear on you quite a bit. So for us to come out tonight and get the win that we needed, play the right way for good stretches of time, it's exactly what we needed out of our group."
Alex Formenton had a goal and an assist, and Filip Gustavsson made 22 saves for the Senators (7-16-1), who were coming off a 3-2 shootout win at the New Jersey Devils on Monday.
"At the end of the day, you could tell some of the guys were a little tired there as the game went on," Ottawa defenseman Thomas Chabot said. "But I mean, at the end of the day, the main thing for us is really looking back at the five games in seven days we had. We've had a good stretch (3-2-0), and we're starting to turn things around, but obviously this is another learning game."

Lee gave New York a 1-0 lead at 3:00 of the second period. After his initial turnaround missed the net, he was able to corral the puck off the end boards and score before Gustavsson could get back to the left post.
Josh Norris one-timed a cross-ice pass from Drake Batherson on the power play to tie it 1-1 at 9:44
Wahlstrom then made it 2-1 at 14:06, deking from forehand to backhand from in close after getting to a loose puck.
Lee scored 27 seconds later to push the lead to 3-1, chipping in the puck after Adam Pelech's shot deflected back into the crease off the glass behind the net.
Bellows made it 4-1 at 6:26 of the third with a one-timer off a tic-tac-toe passing play with Wahlstrom and Austin Czarnik.
"We were able to capitalize tonight," Czarnik said. "Obviously, in the past games it's been a little bit harder, but I think here we were able to capitalize on our chances and the guys just worked hard. Once you get one, you get two and it starts to go your way. Just proud of everyone here."

Nick Holden's shot redirected in off Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson's skate to cut it to 4-2 at 8:11, but Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored on a rebound at the edge of the crease during a 4-on-4 to make it 5-2 at 12:26.
"I think we're happy where our game is going the past couple games," Pageau said. "We're playing some good hockey. We don't really get the bounces that we deserve, but we're working extremely hard and we're sacrificing and we're doing all the right things. We're just so happy it's behind us. We got the win and now we're looking forward to the next game."
Formenton cut it to 5-3 at 15:54 when he scored glove side after electing to shoot on a shorthanded 2-on-1.
"We played five games in seven nights and we just didn't have the same sharpness with our execution tonight," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "I wouldn't say that it was the effort, we just weren't playing as smart. We had some chances and we didn't put it in. We didn't break out as good. At the end of the day, you don't get the result you wanted."