Ottawa Senators let two points slip away against Islanders

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ISLES 4, SENATORS 2

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Two steps forward, one step back.

Three times is supposed to be a charm, but the Ottawa Senators failed to complete that feat as they dropped a disappointing 4-2 decision to the New York Islanders in front of 15,878 on Sunday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.

The Senators were trying to win three straight for the first time this season after the club scored a 3-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday in the second game of this homestand.

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There were times when the Senators completely dominated this game, but weren’t able to cash on Grade A opportunities. New York goalie Ilya Sorokin was a huge reason this game was close and Anton Forsberg couldn’t make the necessary stops to secure the win.

Only Josh Norris and Adam Gaudette were able to score for the Senators, who fired 31 shots at Sorokin. Coach Travis Green insisted his group deserved a better fate.

“We gave up two shots in the third period. What do you want me to say? It would have been nice to win 5-2,” said Green. “We win that game nine out of 10 times.”

WINNING THE ONLY OPTION

A five-game losing skid in November means the Senators must use this month to stay in the race.

If the Senators are to make the playoffs, the Isles are one of the clubs they’ll battle with. Ottawa dropped a 4-2 decision to New York on Nov. 7 at home and the Senators had only four wins in 17 games versus the Isles before the puck was dropped.

The Isles aren’t a good team and these are the opponents the Senators have struggled to beat this season. If you’re going to be in the battle when the points are counted up at the end of the season, these are the teams that you have to beat.

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Losing to the Isles is a tough blow.

“I thought we did a lot of great things,” said captain Brady Tkachuk. “Their goalie made a lot of saves. That’s no excuse, but we need to find a way, but you’re going to win games like that nine out of 10 times.”

FORSBERG RETURNS

Anton Forsberg made his first start since the club dropped a 4-1 decision in Los Angeles last Sunday.

The club didn’t consider starting Linus Ullmark in back-to-back games. Forsberg came into this game with a 2-7-0 lifetime record versus the Isles with a .890 save percentage and 3.52 goals-against average.

This was Forsberg’s 11th appearance this season. He wasn’t tested a whole lot and went lengthy stretches without even facing a shot. The club needed Forsberg to be better, and that’s just the reality.

A couple of more stops on the 12 shots he faced and it’s a different result.

Isles coach Patrick Roy opted to go with Sorokin. He made 28 stops in the club’s victory over the Hurricanes on Saturday night and it’s the first time this season he has played back-to-back games.

With Semyon Varlamov listed as day-to-day, fans were hoping to see former Senators farmhand Marcus Hogberg in this one. The fact this was a conference game likely played a big role in Roy’s decision.

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Selected by the Senators in 2013, Hogberg, 30, hasn’t won an NHL game since April 28, 2021, a win against the Canucks, and has only played 16 minutes this season with the Isles.

TIMELY SCORING

The Isles have the worst power play and penalty kill in the league.

Naturally, the Senators gave their opponent confidence by allowing Kyle Palmieri to give the Isles the lead in the third at 12:46 on the power play.

Earlier, Anders Lee had tied it up 1-1 with the man advantage at 12:27 of the first. It’s the first time this season the Isles have scored two power-play goals in a game.

Trailing 2-1, Norris tied it up only 37 seconds into the second on the power play. That was Norris’ fourth goal in his last six games. Kyle MacLean gave the Isles the lead at 14:48 of the second.

Gaudette hit a career high with his 13th of the season to open the scoring at 5:37 of the first. He took a perfect feed from Noah Gregor to beat Sorokin on the glove side.

Gaudette’s previous high was 12 goals in 59 games with the Canucks during the 2019-20 campaign. The Senators came into this game with a 10-1-0 record when the club opened the scoring.

“We’re definitely heading in the right direction here,” alternate captain Thomas Chabot said. “We were going good and, to be honest, we were going good as well tonight. We didn’t give them a whole lot and you’ve got to give them credit because when they had a chance they found the back of the net.”

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