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UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- The New York Islanders' home winless streak against the Ottawa Senators reached 15 games, but they'll take this kind of effort from goaltender Chris Osgood every night. Osgood continued his recent resurgence with 33 saves as the Islanders settled for a 2-2 tie with the Senators. New York's slow start this season had a lot to do with Osgood's ineffectiveness. But the Islanders have been playing their best hockey of the season recently, and so has Osgood, who yielded nine goals in his previous five starts. Osgood continued his solid play in this one, stopping 12 shots in the first, eight in the second, nine in the third and four more in overtime. "Great, solid," New York coach said Peter Laviolette. "He's been big for us. He's been playing well and it looks like he's been seeing it well. He's controlling his rebounds, it's nice to see." Osgood was especially sharp when the Islanders were shorthanded. Ottawa, which is among the league's top power-play units, converted just 1-of-7 opportunities. The Senators had a 57-second two-man advantage after New York was penalized for having too many men on the ice 13:50 into the first. But Osgood made three straight saves, stopping Martin Havlat's point-blank shot and his stuff attempt on the rebound. On Ottawa's next rush, Osgood smothered Alfredsson's one-timer through a screen. "They got a good power play," Osgood said. "I thought we killed penalties pretty good. They got a lot of talented forwards who skate well." In overtime, Osgood dived on his back to stop a shot by Mike Fisher that got a piece of Islanders defenseman Adrian Aucoin. "We realized what we were in for at the start of the game," Ottawa defenseman Curtis Leschyshyn said. They had been on an unbeaten streak. We've been playing well as of late as well. It was going to be a tight-checking game, the way the Islanders intended to play." Ottawa's goals were the results of defensive breakdowns by New York. The Senators grabbed a 1-0 lead 58 seconds into the second period when Alfredsson's centering pass went off the leg of Magnus Arvedson, who was unchecked by Alexei Yashin at the right side of the crease. Just 92 seconds after Mattias Weinhandl's first NHL goal gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead 11:06 into the third, Radek Bonk breezed through the New York zone and converted Marian Hossa's centering pass into his fourth goal. Weinhandl got his goal after Isbister checked former Islanders defenseman Wade Redden behind the net and Yashin stopped a clearing attempt by his former team. But 35 seconds later, Yashin was penalized for tripping and Bonk tied it. Lalime made 26 saves for the Senators, who are 11-0-4 at the Nassau Coliseum since January 6, 1996. Lalime, who is 4-0-2 since a 7-1 loss at Boston on November 9, also did a solid job helping his team kill penalties. After Michael Peca was ejected for clipping defenseman Zdeno Chara, another former Islander, the Senators had an extended power play. But it was New York that had most of the scoring chances during the five-minute advantage. Lalime stopped Jason Blake twice but could not control a loose puck during a scramble and Isbister poked in the puck with 15 seconds left in the second for his third goal in two games. "I thought we played very physical and I thought we had some great chances," Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. "Osgood made some great saves. It's an important point. We're trying to climb up in the standings. They've been playing very well lately, so it was a good effort." |
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