Anders Lee scored twice Tuesday night for the visiting New York Islanders, who snapped an 11-game losing streak and earned their first win in more than a month by beating the Ottawa Senators 5-3.
The Islanders went 0-8-3 dating back to Nov. 7, a span in which they were ravaged by injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak. The losing streak was the longest for New York since a 14-game skid (0-11-3) in 2010.
Oliver Wahlstrom scored 27 seconds before Lee's second goal in the middle period -- a tally that gave the Islanders their first multi-goal lead since their previous win, a 2-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 6.
Kieffer Bellows and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each scored in the third as New York scored its most goals since a 6-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 4.
Goalie Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves.
Josh Norris, Nick Holden and Alex Formenton scored for the Senators, whose three-game winning streak was snapped. Ottawa hasn't won more than three straight since a six-game winning streak from March 2 through March 11, 2017.
Goalie Filip Gustavsson recorded 22 saves.
Lee, who was one of eight Islanders sidelined by COVID-19, put back the wide rebound of his own point-blank shot to open the scoring three minutes into the second.
Norris scored on the power play 6:44 later, when he took a cross-ice pass from Drake Batherson, went to one knee and ripped a shot past Sorokin.
Wahlstrom went from his forehand to the backhand to beat Gustavsson with 5:54 left in the second before Lee quickly extended the lead 27 seconds later. Bellows scored 6:26 into the third before Holden's shot glanced off the skate of Noah Dobson and fluttered past Sorokin 1:45 later.
Pageau scored off a faceoff win by the Islanders with 7:34 left. Formenton scored a short-handed goal with 4:06 remaining, but the Senators got no closer despite pulling Gustavsson in the final two minutes.
--Field Level Media
NY Islanders | Ottawa | |
Anders Lee 2 | Points | Alex Formenton 2 |
Anders Lee 2 | Goals | Alex Formenton 1 |
Austin Czarnik 2 | Assists | Alex Formenton 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Josh Norris 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | Alex Formenton 1 |
Ilya Sorokin .909 | Save Percentage | Filip Gustavsson .815 |
Ilya Sorokin 30 | Saves | Filip Gustavsson 22 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
NY Islanders | 27 | 5 | 0-2 | 4-5 | 14 | 26 |
Ottawa | 33 | 3 | 1-5 | 2-2 | 8 | 19 |