The New York Islanders made it six in a row last night with a 4-2 win over the Ottawa Senators. Here’s the game recap.
Mathew Barzal was absolutely flying early on, getting around Mark Borowiecki easily on a rush and getting a good chance that was stopped by Anders Nilsson. It was Ottawa who opened the scoring though, as Tyler Ennis tipped in a Thomas Chabot point shot to put the Senators ahead 1-0.
The Islanders tied it shortly after, however, with Nick Leddy making a complete solo effort, starting from his own end, getting through basically everyone from Ottawa and beating Nilsson with a backhand. Nilsson should have had it but regardless, it was an excellent individual effort. On a power play, Anthony Beauvillier got in close and rang it right off the crossbar but Chris Tierney cleared the puck over the glass to give New York a 5-on-3. New York couldn’t necessarily capitalize on the power play time itself but Nick Leddy made a second individual rush, got hauled down by Dylan DeMelo and was awarded a penalty shot. He scored his second of the game, beating Nilsson glove side to put the Islanders up 2-1 before the end of the period.
In the second period, Nick Leddy looked to have gotten his hat trick on a goal to put the Islanders up 3-1 but upon a closer look, it deflected off of Matt Martin before finding its way in. A little bit later in the period, Mathew Barzal made a great play to pick up the puck at the blue line and carry it into the zone, before finding Derick Brassard, who made it 4-1.
In the third period, Tyler Ennis would score his second of the game to cut the lead to 4-2 but that’s as close as Ottawa would come.
Barzal and Leddy both had excellent games in terms of holding onto the puck and getting good chances. Dobson *was* playing and looked good. He’s certainly not shy about holding the puck in the offensive zone and made a few really good passes.
Thomas Greiss made some great saves as well and this really could’ve been a closer game if not for him. Ottawa outshot New York 24-11 in the final two periods but Greiss was rock solid.
As always, thanks for reading! For more, follow @BenShelley_20 on Twitter.
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