Ottawa Senators

The Islanders made their first visit to Ottawa this season and were able to battle all game and come away with an important victory to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The game started slow with both teams going up and down the ice with not many chances generated. Nabokov was called on early in the period but the defense did a good job making sure most shot were from the outside and easily visible. The Islanders got a power play chance at 10:26 when former Islander Zenon Konopka took a hooking penalty. The first power play unit of Tavares, Moulson, Parenteau, Nielsen and Streit was very good creating several chances but unable to put them away. The second power play unit had some trouble but I like the group Capuano put together, the line was Rakhshani, Bailey, Neiderreiter, Okposo and MacDonald. The Islanders were unable to connect on the first power play but still kept the pressure up. It was a strong first period for the Islanders who outshot the Senators 14 to 8.

The Islanders look to build off their win from earlier in the week and start a second half playoff push with a game against Ottawa tomorrow night. The Islanders are currently riding a hot streak getting 5 out of a possible 6 points in the last 3 games. This has the Islanders only 9 points out of playoff spot with plenty of time left in the season.

A couple of the sparks in the Islanders last win were the Bridgeport call ups of Kevin Poulin and Rhett Rakhshani. Poulin made his contribution playing a great game between the pipes, which showed many fans why he is considered the goaltender of the future. Rakhshani was a great move in my eyes as he was a spark plug on a line with Matt Martin and Josh Bailey. The whole game the line was buzzing around the ice and creating chances. Hopefully they will get another chance in Ottawa to keep showing that they are improving their chances and create more secondary scoring which is what this team needs.

The year began with a clear banner among Senators fans,  the team was going to #failforNail and be the worst team in the league. Many Senators fans weren't neccesarily buying that plan, but it would be a dire year regardless.

The Senators were projected to finish somewhere between 15th and maybe, with absurd optimism, 10th in the Eastern Conference. Well over the halfway point of the season the Seantors look as though they may be buyers come trade deadline. Huh?

Seriously, team owner Eugene Melnyk and GM Bryan Murray are on the same page with this one too: if the Senators continue to roll, they will be looking to add talent to their roster near deadline day. So what w...

The Ottawa Senators don’t mind trailing late in games. In fact, after tonight’s victory they lead the league in wins when trailing after two periods with six.

Philadelphia (24-12-4) went into the final period with a 4-2 lead. Ottawa (22-15-6) was able to cut the deficit to one at the 3:11 mark of the third period. Senator forward Colin Greening came streaking down the left side of the ice and made a pass to Jason Spezza positioned on the opposite side of the crease.

Ilya Bryzgalov was in a position to make a play on the puck. Matt Carle was trailing Spezza, who put out his stick and deflected the puck rather than intercepting it and Bryzgalov was unable to adjust.

Even though the Senators are the “comeback kids” of the league this one is on the Flyers. An own goal, missed scoring opportunities, and sloppy handling is not the way to close out games.

Erik Karlsson scored the equalizer with 13:41 left in the game. Karlsson stripped Jaromir Jagr and bolted down the left side of the ice. With a Senator forward evenly skating with Karlsson on the right side Bryzgalov was unable to commit to Karlsson. Karlsson zip-lined a snapshot that went between the goalie’s legs.