New York Islanders centre Brock Nelson (29) skates into Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg (31) as defenceman Artem Zub (2) blocks a shot during first period NHL hockey action in Ottawa, on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
OTTAWA – The New York Islanders survived a late comeback by the Ottawa Senators in Thursday’s 4-2 win.
The Islanders led 3-0 before Ottawa made it interesting in the third period. Nick Jensen scored his first of the season and Drake Batherson’s power-play goal pulled the hosts within a goal with just over five minutes remaining.
Bo Horvat sealed the win for the Islanders, however, with an empty-net goal with 10 seconds left.
Ottawa (6-7-2) wasn’t able to complete the comeback in part due to Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov’s hard work in the final minutes, and 28 saves overall.
Anton Forsberg held the Senators in the game early when they struggled to find momentum, and had 21 saves.
The Islanders (6-6-2) tested Forsberg early, but were unable to capitalize.
Ottawa had a scary moment on a power play midway through the first period when Josh Norris’s shot deflected off Ryan Pulock and caught Tim Stutzle hard in the forehead.
Stutzle returned to start the second period and played the remainder of the game.
Anders Lee opened the scoring at 15:49 on a Horvat backhand pass from behind the net. Jean-Gabriel Pageau made it 2-0 for the Islanders with a breakaway goal late in the period.
The Isles led 3-0 early in the third period on Oliver Wahlstrom’s first goal of the year before Ottawa started to push back.
Takeaways
Senators: Defenceman Artem Zub was back on the Senators blue-line after missing nine games with a concussion. He returned to the top pairing with Jake Sanderson.
Islanders: The line of Anders Lee, Bo Horvath and Jean-Gabriel Pageau combined for two goals.
Key moment
With 1:38 remaining in the second period, Pageau beat Ottawa’s Jake Sanderson in a battle for the puck and broke in alone to beat Forsberg high stick side.
Key stat
Brady Tkachuk leads the Senators in goals (7) but his five-game point streak of eight points (4G, 4A) came to an end.
Up next
The Senators are in Boston on Saturday to face the Bruins. The Islanders host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
