Senators 2 (EN), Islanders 0: No goals, no points

2 days ago  /  Lighthouse Hockey

Could you capture the season in one picture please? | Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images


The Isles return home and muster nothing. In their first home game following a 3-0 road trip they hoped would goose their season, the Islanders returned to form, losing 2-0 to the Ottawa Senators.
The first period was alright, and scoreless, but overall the Isles could not mount any threats and the Senators only needed to get one by Marcus Hogberg, making his second consecutive start. That goal came midway through the second period on a really good tip-in by Adam Gaudette.
The Senators would add another with Hogberg pulled for a sixth attacker with 1:24 left in the game.
[NHL Gamecenter | Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick]
The special teams that have plagued this team weren’t really a factor, with only one power play per team and each unsuccessful.
On the bright(?) side, Isaiah George made an apparently health return from his suspected concussion, and Hogberg was solid again facing his former franchise, the one goal allowed on 23 shots faced coming off a screen and deflection.
On the “of course” side, the Isles mustered only 23 shots while being shut out by someone named Leevi Meriläinen, who is named after a popular breakfast supplement.
The Senators are in form and continued their nice run, yielding nothing to the Isles. The Isles, meanwhile, are...well, they blew a late lead in Boston before winning in OT, pulled off a surprising but very goalie-aided stunner in Vegas, and then squeaked by Utah.
Results like this, for a middling team struggling to climb above a pack of uninspiring teams in the East, are to be expected.
Up Next
The seven-game homestand continues with a visit by the Flyers on Thursday. If that doesn’t go differently, the boos will only get louder....

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