Islanders 5, Senators 4 (SO)
OTTAWA -- Frans Nielsen's shootout goal gave the New York Islanders a 5-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre Friday night.
Evgeni Nabokov preserved the win with a great leg stop off Bobby Ryan.
The win snapped the Islanders' two-game losing streak. While they did get a point, the loss extended the Senators' own losing streak to four games.
Goaltending was the story of the game, as Robin Lehner faced 57 shots in the Senators net while Nabokov was tested just 31 times between the Islanders pipes. Lehner stopped Thomas Vanek on a breakaway that started in the Islanders defensive zone in overtime.
John Tavares, Matt Martin, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Nielsen had the Islanders goals. Kyle Okposo added a pair of assists.
Erik Condra, Mika Zibanejad, Bobby Ryan and Clarke MacArthur scored for the Senators, while Erik Karlsson chipped in with two assists.
Nielsen scored his eighth goal of the season at 3:14 of the third period as the Islanders recovered from their second two-goal deficit of the night, making the score 4-4.
The teams scored five goals in a busy second period that first saw the Islanders net a pair to tie the score, then the Senators notch two to build themselves a cushion and finally the visitors add another to set up the stage for an interesting final 20 minutes.
Lehner didn't see a puck until the 5:30 mark of the first period, but near the midway mark he did have to make a breakaway stop on Michael Grabner with the Islanders shorthanded that prevented the Senators from giving up the game's first goal for the 10th time this season.
Ottawa took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission with late period goals 62 seconds apart by Condra, off an Islander defensive zone giveaway, and Zibanejad, who slapped a shot that went through Nabokov's catching mitt.
NOTES: Two Islanders who spent five years in the Senators organization were playing their first game in Ottawa as visitors: D Matt Carkner and C Peter Regin. "It is special," Carkner said before the opening faceoff. "It's my hometown. I used to play here. There are a lot of familiar faces on the other side. I've been waiting for this for a year and a half now. I'm excited for the game." ... The Senators feasted on the Islanders over the years. They entered the night with a 47-16-11-4 record in the all-time series between the two teams, including a 24-7-5-2 mark at home. ... Islanders C John Tavares brought the NHL's longest point scoring streak to Ottawa. During his 10-game run, Tavares had four goals and nine assists. ... Senators RW Erik Condra's goal was his first of the season and just his second in his last 42 regular season games.
