New York Islanders Defeat the Sens as Trotz earns 800th Win

The New York Islanders went ahead by two goals last night only to give up that lead to the Ottawa Senators. Then watch in delight as the won in a shootout after seeing the game tied and scoreless in overtime.

The Ottawa Senators, down 4-2 going into the third period, had ground to make up and did exactly that by applying pressure on the New York Islanders. That saw both Bobby Ryan and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scoring to tie the game with 4:40 remaining in the third period.

Ross Johnston, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and Devon Toews scored for New York, while Josh Bailey, Johnny Boychuk, Casey Cizikas, Michael Dal Coile, Leo Komarov and Nick Leddy earned assists. Scoring for the Ottawa was Bobby Ryan, Zack Smith, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Oscar Lindber.

New York’s Robin Lehner stopped 21 shots, and Thomas Greiss stopped two, while Craig Anderson of the Sens had 38 saves for the night. That saw the Sens and Islanders going into overtime, and after going scoreless, it came down to the shootout.

Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle opened for New York with scoring. Ottawa’s Bobby Ryan missed his shot, and that saw the Islanders taking a 5-4 win and giving Barry Trotz his 800th win. Commenting on the loss after a tough third period, New York’s Anders Lee said,

“A little bit of an ugly third period for us, but we found a way at the end. Right now, the two points is the biggest thing.”

Midway through the third period Robin Lehner left with an injury and was replaced with Thomas Greiss, who manage to stop the two shots he faced denying both Bobby Ryan and Thomas Chabot in the shootout. The win means the Islanders are now tied in the Metropolitan Division with the Washington Capitals.

The Islanders regaining their position at the top of the Metropolitan Division is good news for NHL punters who are watching their progress careful in the lead up to the playoffs. New York is in strong contention to perform well in the post-season, and for sportsbooks and oddmakers, it means superior odds and promotions when registering with leading hockey sports betting sites such as 888Sport.

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Barry Trotz now joins Joel Quenneville, Ken Hitchcock and Scotty Bowman as only the fourth coach in the history of the NHL to rake up 800 wins. After coming into the game with three straight losses in their last four games, the Islanders needed the win, especially while dealing with illnesses and injuries.

Marc Crawford, Ottawa’s interim coach, understands that New York isn’t at the top of the league for no reason adding.

“We faltered a bit in the second. In the third we got rewarded by going hard to the net.”

Barry Trotz commented that the Islanders need to get a few things cleaned up before they meet the Sens next Thursday. Trotz added,

“We’ll go over it tomorrow and we’ll see if we’re healthier and see what we’ll do in terms of lineups.”

The New York Islanders visit Ottawa on Thursday for back-to-back games before welcoming Philadelphia on Saturday and Columbus on Monday. Ottawa faces New York on Thursday before hitting the road to do battle with Boston on the 9th and Philadelphia on the 11th.