Islanders beat Senators on Anders Lee's late goal

OTTAWA, Ontario — It was not a pretty display of defense, but it was a win, the second straight for the Islanders. They overcame three deficits to beat the Senators, 5-4,  on Saturday afternoon at Canadian Tire Centre.

“I think both sides could go back and clean up a few things,” said   Anders Lee,  who muscled defenseman Jordan Spence off the puck and got to the crease for the winner at 18:57 of the third period. “Trading rushes and trading opportunities, you don’t want to see that every night.”

The Islanders had trouble exiting their zone. There were turnovers (both sides). And the Islanders were beaten on odd-man rushes as their forwards were slow on the backcheck.

But they did not allow a goal in the third period, with  Ilya Sorokin’s  glove save on Shane Pinto’s penalty shot at 2:23 being a key factor.

“I think we were resilient in that aspect,” defenseman Scott Mayfield said. “Whether we tie it up and we give one right back, whatever happens, there were ups and downs. We put together a good last period and we pull one out late.”

Sorokin made 29 saves for the Islanders (2-3-0), though he has allowed at least four goals in all four of his starts.

Pinto, of Franklin Square, was awarded the penalty shot after No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer was whistled for taking him down on a shorthanded breakaway after the puck got past Schaefer at the Senators’ blue line.

“Of course it was a big save,” coach Patrick Roy said. “In a game like this, every save is a big save.”

“There’s moments in games where things can turn,” Lee said. “If Pinto puts that in, it’s a tough hill to climb. So Sorokie backing us up gave us an opportunity to get back into that game, and we took advantage of it.”

Sorokin was victimized by the Islanders’ lack of a backcheck on the Senators’ third and fourth goals to end a seesaw second period. Defenseman Nick Jensen, feeding Tim Stutzle for a 3-2 lead at 16:46, effectively worked against Schaefer and Mayfield without backside pressure. Then Simon Holmstrom’s turnover allowed Stutzle to find Dylan Cozens wide open in the left circle to make it 4-3 at 18:47.

“I think the guys in this dressing room know we need to be better on our exits,” Roy said. “We need to be better in our defensive zone coverage. But you know what? Offensively, we were good.”

Max Shabanov’s lifted shot to the far post after curling to the right circle had tied it at 3-3 at 17:45 of the second period. The Islanders also had tied it with two goals in three minutes, seven seconds earlier in the period.

Emil Heineman shoveled in a loose puck at the crease at 6:50 and defenseman Ryan Pulock set up Bo Horvat’s one-timer at 9:57 after Horvat notched a natural hat trick in Thursday’s 4-2 win over the Oilers.

The Islanders tied it again at 4-4 at 6:00 of the third period on Kyle Palmieri’s snap shot off a rush with Mathew Barzal.

David Perron’s power-play goal from the left trickled through Sorokin at 17:01 of the first period and the Islanders then could not generate a shot on a five-on-three power play that lasted one minute, 29 seconds.

Sorokin also had a good look at Pinto’s one-timer blast from the left circle to make it 2-0 at 5:32 of the second period, his seventh goal of the season.

Linus Ullmark, who beat out Sorokin for the Vezina Trophy in 2023 while still with the Bruins, made 18 saves for the Senators (2-4-0).

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.