Senators fall to Islanders in overtime
Posted February 3, 2012 10:30 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — Mark Eaton scored in overtime Friday night as the New York Islanders defeated the Ottawa Senators 2-1.
Eaton took a pass from Milan Jurcina and put a no-look backhand shot past Senators’ goaltender Craig Anderson.
Matt Martin had the regulation goal for the Islanders (21-22-7) while P.A. Parenteau had two assists. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves for New York.
Red-hot Islanders forward John Tavares was held scoreless. He came into the game with three goals in two games and finished the month of January with nine goals and 13 assists.
Zack Smith had a short-handed goal for the Senators (27-20-7), who picked up their first point in five games and played their first home game since a 6-4 victory over Philadelphia on Jan. 8.
Anderson turned aside 30 shots.
The Islanders trailed 1-0 heading into the third period, but Parenteau drew Senators’ defencemen Sergei Gonchar and Jared Cowen towards him along the boards and then sent a pass to Martin who was alone in the middle of the ice.
Martin moved in and beat Anderson cleanly to tie the game at 5:27 into the third period.
The only goal of the opening 40 minutes came as the second period was winding to a close. Smith took control of the puck in his own zone while the Islanders were on a power play, skated the length of the ice and beat Nabokov.
The shot hit the top of Nabokov’s trapper as he misjudged the shot that gave the Senators a 1-0 at 18:47.
There weren’t very many good scoring chances up until that point and Scotiabank Place was a very quiet building, unlike five days early when 21 goals were scored during the all-star game, including four by Senators’ players.
Notes: The game Friday night was the Senators’ 1,500th in franchise history. …The Ottawa Senators recalled forward Jim O’Brien Friday from the American Hockey League affiliate, the Binghamton Senators. …The Senators are 42-16-11-2 all-time against the Islanders. …The Senators are tied for the NHL lead with six wins after trailing following two periods. …Mark Eaton played his 600th career NHL game Friday night, and 69th with the Islanders. …Islanders forward John Tavares has eight goals and 15 assists in his 15 games prior to Friday night when he was held pointless.
