Sorokin makes 29 saves, Islanders edge Senators

OTTAWA -- Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves, and the New York Islanders defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-2 at Canadian Tire Centre on Sunday.

“I guess the story of the game was our goalie,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “He was outstanding. He showed why he’s one of the best in the game and played a really solid game, gave us a chance and when we made a mistake or were not as sharp, he was there for us.”

Ottawa outshot New York 31-13. Sorokin also made 29 saves in a 4-3 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.

“Impressive, but not surprising. I mean, he’s world class,” Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson said. “We’re fortunate to have the goaltending we do. Ilya made some crazy saves tonight just to keep us in it when we needed him. I’m sure he’ll get a deserving day off tomorrow.”

Anders Lee and Kyle Palmieri each had a goal and an assist, and Dobson had two assists for New York (11-11-7).

“It makes up for some of the wins that we thought that we should’ve had,” Roy said. “This is a good one for us. We didn’t generate much offensively, but just enough. It was good. We worked on our shooting percentage today.”

Adam Gaudette and Josh Norris scored, Tim Stutzle had two assists, and Anton Forsberg made nine saves for the Senators (12-13-2), who had won two straight, including 3-1 against the Nashville Predators on Saturday.

“We're definitely heading in the right direction here,” Ottawa defenseman Thomas Chabot said. “We won [two] games in a row. We were going good. And to be honest with you, I feel like I'd be ready to say we were going good as well tonight. I think we didn't give them a whole lot, and you’ve got to give them credit. When they had a chance, they found the back of the net.”

The Islanders were 2-for-2 on the power play; the Senators were 1-for-3. Coming into Sunday, New York was 2-for-24 on the power play in its previous 10 games and hadn’t scored two power-play goals in a game this season.

“We talked before the game about the power play, how important the power play is and could win games, for example, like tonight,” Roy said. “We had two very good [penalty] kills, as well, at the end of the second and then in the third. I thought that was an important moment in the game.”

Gaudette scored on a cross-crease pass from Noah Gregor in tight to give the Senators a 1-0 lead at 5:37 of the first period. It was Gaudette’s 13th goal of the season, a new career high.

“I mean, we played really well,” Gaudette said. “Lots of chances from all the lines, but, you know, some days they just don't go in. I think we played really well, played to our game plan and that's a couple games in a row where we played to how we want to play.”

Lee spun off Jake Sanderson in front and scored on a Dobson rebound on the power play to tie it 1-1 at 12:27. It was the Islanders’ first road power-play goal since Nov. 14.

“We didn’t have our best by any means, but sometimes on the road you’ve got to grind out a win like that,” Dobson said. “Obviously, Ilya was tremendous, gave us a chance, and it was nice to see the power play come up huge for us. We’ve had some opportunities this year and haven’t capitalized. That’s big. Just a big win.”

Kyle MacLean put the Islanders ahead 2-1 at 14:48. He battled for position at the top of the crease and chipped in a centering pass from Dennis Cholowski.

Norris one-timed a no-look, behind the back pass from Drake Batherson on the power play to tie it 2-2 just 37 seconds into the second period.

“I thought we did a lot of great things,” Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk said. “Their goalie made some key saves at the right time. And I mean, there's no excuse, but we need to find a way. But you're going to win games nine times out of 10 if we continue to play like that.”

Palmieri gave New York a 3-2 lead at 13:46 of the third period with a power-play goal. He took a pass from Lee from the goal line and beat Forsberg under the glove with a snap shot from the left face-off circle.

Bo Horvat scored into an empty net at 19:09 for the 4-2 final.

“It was just one of those games,” Lee said. “We weren’t playing clean. But like I said, Ilya had a great game. Penalty kill had a great kill in the third at the end. In the right moments, we were good.”

NOTES: Dobson has five points (one goal, four assists) during a four-game point streak. … Islanders defenseman Isaiah George had a game-high five blocks. … Tkachuk had a game-high six shots. … The Senators are yet to win three in a row this season.