After beating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 on Saturday night, the New York Islanders went into Ottawa and won 4-2.
Ilya Sorokin stole the show, his second start in less than 24 hours, turning aside 25 shots for back-to-back wins. Kyle Palmieri’s late power-play goal served as the game-winner.
Speaking of writing of back-to-back wins, Sunday was just the second time this season that the Islanders strung two wins together.
Here’s how it happened:
Adam Gaudette gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 5:37 of the first after Noah Gregor found him all alone in front. Isaiah George lost his balance, which resulted in a wide-open passing lane:
On the power play, Anders Lee’s 12th goal of the season tied the score at 1-1 after he buried a rebound around Forsberg’s left pad at 12:27 of the first:
With the secondary assist, Kyle Palmieri recorded his 500th career NHL point and Noah Dobson pushed his point streak to a modest four games (one goal, three assists):
Related: Islanders Kyle Palmieri Record’s 500th NHL Point Against Ottawa
Just 2:19 later, Kyle MacLean finished off a Dennis Cholowski pass in front to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead:
Pierre Engvall, in his return to the lineup after serving as a healthy scratch on Saturday night, earned the secondary assist.
The Islanders had 1:23 to kill off when the second period began after Palmieri went off for interference at 19:22 of the second.
Unfortunately for the Islanders, their struggling penalty kill, which entered the night at just 7.9% on the road, failed to come through.
Josh Norris was the beneficiary of a no-look pass from Drake Batherson for a wide-open finish, tying the game at 2-2 just 37 seconds into the middle frame:
The Islanders never were able to get to their game in the second, firing just five shots on goal. But, partially because of the Senators’ failures and a tad bit of strong position, New York only allowed eight shots on Sorokin.
The Senators had another chance on the power play to take a 3-2 lead after MacLean was called for high-sticking at 12:34 of the second, but they got the kill.
Neither team was able to find the back of the net, as they took a 2-2 tie into the third period.
At 13:00 of the third, Kyle Palmieri drew a tripping penalty, and on the power play, No. 21 gave his team a 3-2 lead.
After Anders Lee skated the puck down the left side after the power play established themselves in the offensive zone, he fed Palmieri inside the left dot. With time and space, Palmieri crept toward the dot before wiring a wrister past the glove of Forsberg at 13:46 of the third:
Lee and Dobson each earned their second point of the night.
Bo Horvat scored at 19:07 of the third on the empty net to give the Islanders a 4-2 lead to give him goals in back-to-back games.
