Canada Sports News

Ottawa Senators defeated the New York Islanders this Friday night. D.J. Smith’s team was much better than the guests, and they deserved to win. The final result was 4-1.

This was the third straight victory for the Sens, who triumphed in seven of the last nine contests. Smith’s team is slowly climbing up on the Eastern Conference standings and if they continue playing like this, playoffs could be a realistic target.

“Certainly, some of the guys that have been here have had a lot of losses, especially at the end probably of last year. They’re having some fun getting a little bit of success,” said the Senators’ coach.

Thomas Chabot brought the lead to the home team, after just 57 seconds since the game started. He blasted a wrist shot from the left face-off circle, placing the puck behind Henrik Lundqvist.

It was 2-0 for the hosts, 6:32 inside the opening period, when Logan Brown scored a power-play goal. It was his first NHL goal in 15th appearance for the Canadian team.

“That’s something I’ve dreamt about my whole life,” said Brown. “Especially the past couple weeks with all the unlucky bounces I’ve had. I’ve been thinking about getting that one.”

The strong start of the Senators dazzled the Rangers who couldn’t pull themselves together until the late part of the same. With 2:40 to go, Jacob Trouba decreased the result to 2-1. Anders Nillson couldn’t do anything about it. Hosts’ goalie had 30 saves tonight.

Ottawa outshot the Rangers 19-9 in the first 20 minutes.

Just as the visitors’ fans hoped that their favorites regained the balance of power on the ice, another unpleasant surprise happened. The Senators opened the second frame in the same manner as the previous one – by allowing a goal.

Tyler Ennis showed a little bit of his magic once he netted 71 seconds since the break. He avoided two Rangers’ players and managed to beat Lundqvist with a snapshot.

Anthony Duclair closed the match, with another power-play goal, at 13:24 of the last. In those moments, the hosts had a two-player advantage on the ice.

Lundqvist ended the night with 35 saves, and although it might seem odd, he was the best player among the Rangers. The Swedish goalie is still waiting for his 455th win in the NHL, to eclipse Curtis Joseph on the all-time career wins list and move to the fifth place.

“It’s been going on since the start of the season. We take a step in the right direction, and then we have a game where we’re just not ready,” he said following the match.

At the moment, the Rangers (9-9-2) have three consecutive defeats on the road. David Quinn’s guys are 14th in the East at the moment, and second to the last in the Metropolitan Division. Up next, they visit Montreal this Saturday to face the Canadiens.

On the other side, Senators play against the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Monday. After that they host Boston Bruins on Wednesday.