New York Islanders vs. Ottawa Senators Pick & Prediction NOVEMBER 7th 2024
Preview and Prediction
The New York Islanders believed that their performance in the final moments of the game on Tuesday night was well-deserved.
The Ottawa Senators shared this sentiment, but for entirely different reasons.
On Thursday night, the Islanders will be looking to start a winning streak while the Senators will be aiming to bounce back from a convincing defeat. This will be the first meeting of the season between these two Eastern Conference rivals.
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Both teams had a day off on Wednesday following their eventful games on Tuesday. The Islanders managed to overcome a two-goal deficit in the third period and eventually defeated the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in a shootout in Elmont, New York. Meanwhile, the Senators allowed three goals in the final 20 minutes and ended up losing 5-1 to the Buffalo Sabres.
The Islanders, who have been struggling recently, seemed to be headed for another loss when Michael Bunting scored for the Penguins 7:44 into the third period, giving them a 3-1 lead. However, New York, who is currently playing without injured first-liners Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair, stepped up their offensive game in the Pittsburgh zone and managed to score two goals in the next 5:04.
Simon Holmstrom collected the rebound from Kyle Palmieri's shot, maneuvered the puck around defenseman Ryan Graves, and fired a shot over goalie Alex Nedeljkovic's glove. Jean-Gabriel Pageau then scored with 7:12 remaining, capping off a flurry in the Penguins' zone.
"In the first two periods, it felt like we were hesitant and holding onto the puck for too long," said Palmieri, who had a goal and an assist.
The game went into overtime, where both teams had an empty power play, before Bo Horvat scored the only goal in the shootout, giving the Islanders their second win in their last six games (2-4-0).
"We've been doing enough to stay in games and have them go either way," said Palmieri of the Islanders, who have lost five games by two goals or less. "Tonight was a chance for us to come from behind and earn the two points in a way that we felt we deserved."
On Tuesday, Ottawa's inconsistent season continued with their most lopsided loss yet. The Senators are currently tied for 11th in the NHL in goals and are 11th in goals allowed, but they have scored one goal or less in four games and have allowed five or more goals in four games.
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The Senators outshot the Sabres 25-23 in the first two periods and managed to pull within 2-1 when Ridly Greig scored 7:31 into the second period. However, Bowen Byram and Tage Thompson scored twice in a 16-second span in the first minute of the third period for Buffalo, before JJ Peterka sealed the victory with his second power-play goal at the 12:08 mark.
The Senators, who currently have the fourth-best power play in the NHL at 30.8 percent, were 0-for-2 on the man advantage.
"We lost the battle on special teams," said Senators coach Travis Green. "I thought we weren't strong enough on the puck in certain moments of the game. Sometimes you get what you deserve and we got it. We got what we deserved tonight."
While the Senators have a strong record of 5-1-0 at home, Tuesday's loss dropped them to 1-5-0 on the road. Only the Vegas Golden Knights (0-3-1) have fewer road points.
"We gave up two quick goals and then it was 4-1 and we were chasing the game," said Senators center Josh Norris. "We haven't been great on the road and we need to find a way to start winning some games away from home."
New York Islanders vs. Ottawa Senators
Anthony Duclair scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period Thursday night for the host Ottawa Senators, who dealt another blow to the playoff hopes of the struggling Islanders by beating New York 4-3.
Connor Brown, Mikkel Boedker and Brady Tkachuk also scored for the Senators, who have won three of four. Goalie Craig Anderson made 37 saves.
Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal and Ryan Pulock scored for the Islanders, who have lost five straight (0-3-2) since acquiring center Jean-Gabriel Pageau from the Senators hours before the Feb. 24 trade deadline.
Pageau, who spent the first seven-plus years of his career with Ottawa, received a standing ovation during a scoreboard tribute in the first period.
Goalie Semyon Varlamov recorded 25 saves for the Islanders, whose lead dropped to two points over the New York Rangers for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Another point back are the Hurricanes, and the Islanders host Carolina on Saturday afternoon.
An exchange between Lee and Barzal led to the Islanders opening the scoring early in the first period. Lee's pass behind the Senators' net to Barzal bounced off the boards and to Barzal as Lee stationed himself at the right of the net, where he took a dish from Barzal and fired the puck into the net at 3:58.
The Senators tied the score a second shy of 10 minutes later when Nikita Zaitsev's shot from just inside the blue line was batted out of the air by Varlamov. It bounced off the skate and stick of New York defenseman Scott Mayfield before Brown swooped in and tucked back the rebound.
The Islanders took the lead again 4:18 into the second, when Barzal took a drop pass from Jordan Eberle and fired a shot that sailed under the skate of Chris Tierney and over Anderson's glove.
The Senators again evened the score, this time with a short-handed goal, exactly midway through the period. Boedker forced a turnover by Pulock before backhanding a shot past Varlamov.
Another Islanders turnover led to the Senators' go-ahead goal at 14:26. Colin White stole the puck from Josh Bailey at the edge of the New York zone and dished to Jayce Hawryluk, who hit Duclair in stride at center ice. Duclair then shuffled the puck as he eluded ex-teammate Pageau before firing a shot under Varlamov's glove.
The Senators took a short-lived two-goal with 3:05 left in the third, when Tkachuk picked up a loose puck in the Ottawa zone, raced up the ice and scored the unassisted goal.
With Varlamov pulled, Pulock scored with two minutes left, but the Islanders couldn't get the equalizer.