The Islanders offensive struggles continued on Wednesday night, as the Isles were limited to one goal for the sixth time in the past 13 games, and two-or-fewer for 12th time in their last 14 contests.
"We're pressing it," Head Coach Lane Lambert said. "We just can't find a goal when we need it right now. We've got to find a way."
SENATORS 2, ISLANDERS 1
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The Islanders were outshot 14-10 in the first period and out-attempted 36-20 in a period that saw them defending against a volume-shooting Senators team. It was both quantity and quality, as Ottawa had eight high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five compared to none for the Islanders.
The Sens, seemingly content to send point shots into traffic for deflections, opened the scoring at 15:48 of the period, as Pinto, a Franklin Square native, backhanded a blocked Giroux shot past Semyon Varlamov (36 saves). JG Pageau missed a buzzer beater by one second at the end of the first in what was a tough break in a series of recent ones.
"Varly played really well and we'd like to help him out," Nelson said.
The Islanders outshot the Senators 26-24 through the final two periods, including 14-7 during a third period push, though the Sens still retained a 10-7 advantage in high-danger chances. There were spurts, including an Aatu Raty-Mathew Barzal-Anthony Beauvillier shift in the final minute of the second period, and a point-blank chance for Pageau in the third, where they looked dangerous. Despite some good looks, they couldn't solve Forsberg (21 saves on 22 shots), who was solid in relief of Cam Talbot (14 saves), who left midway through the game with a lower-body injury.
"The chances are there we just have to capitalize on them and that's the frustrating thing is we're getting those opportunities," Cizikas said. "It's not like we're not working for them. We just have to bury them when we get them."