The New York Islanders were able to hold on to a third-period lead on Saturday. They won’t have to wait long to try to achieve something even rarer.
The Islanders will try to win back-to-back games for only the second time this season on Sunday when they visit the Ottawa Senators in a matchup of Eastern Conference rivals.
Both teams will be completing back-to-back games after winning at home on Saturday. The Islanders won 4-3 against the Carolina Hurricanes with a strong four-goal second period, while the Senators defeated the Nashville Predators 3-1.
That victory was just the fourth for the Islanders in their last 14 games (4-5-5). They bounced back from a 5-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday with a strong all-around performance against the Hurricanes. Carolina had eliminated New York from the Eastern Conference playoffs in each of the past two seasons.
Bo Horvat’s goal, his first since Nov. 7 and his sixth of the season, capped the Islanders’ four-goal second period. New York was outshot 19-2 in the third but managed to hold off Carolina until Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored in the final minute with an extra attacker.
The Islanders have blown a third-period lead in six of their last 10 losses and seven of their 18 defeats this season.
“We had to bounce back,” said Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock. “(Thursday night) was probably our worst game of the year. That’s a good team (Carolina). That’s a good win for us.”
The Islanders haven’t won two consecutive games since Nov. 5-7, when they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in a shootout and then defeated the Senators 4-2. Despite their inconsistency, New York is just two points behind the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
“We’ve got to play the same way,” Pulock said. “This is a win you can build off.”
Ottawa has been on a positive run after a five-game losing streak (0-4-1) from Nov. 14-23. The Senators have won four of their last six (4-1-1), including three one-goal wins in that stretch. They had been 3-4 in one-goal games before this recent streak.
“The record speaks for itself a little bit,” said Senators coach Travis Green. “We’ve played some good hockey as of late. We’re still grinding. We’re finding our game again.”
The Senators never trailed on Saturday. Defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker broke a scoreless tie 5:07 into the second period, and goalie Linus Ullmark kept a shutout until deep into the third, finishing with 37 saves.
The Senators have won back-to-back games twice in their last six contests, after having two two-game winning streaks in November.
“I think we feel that things are kind of starting to come together,” Bernard-Docker said after scoring his first goal since Jan. 9. “We’re starting to build on games, which earlier in the season, wasn’t really happening. It kind of felt like we’d win one, lose one, win one, lose one. So it’s nice to have a little momentum.”
