3 Takeaways: Islanders Shut Out Senators 3-0

The New York Islanders shut out the Ottawa Senators 3-0 on Tuesday night at UBS Arena as they completed the sweep in their season series.
Scott Mayfield (1G, 1A) provided the game winner to break some scoreless gridlock midway through the third period, while Anders Lee and Zach Parise (empty net) also scored. Brock Nelson matched his career high as he handed out three assists.
Semyon Varlamov was stellar as he made 24 saves to secure his first shutout of the season in the win.

Anthon Forsberg made 24 saves on 26 shots for the Senators in the loss.
"We got some good saves that we needed, and a couple kills and in the third we upped our game," Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "We recognized that we couldn't mess around through the neutral zone and then we played a little quicker and were patient and we did. All three of those elements kicked in, we got a little forecheck, waited for them, they turned it over, we countered, got some chances, so it was a good mature game by us in the third."

ISLANDERS PATIENCE POISES SHUTOUT VICTORY

The first two periods featured a pretty even effort between the Islanders and Senators, who were still scoreless heading into the third period.
Ottawa held the shot advantage 13-8 in the first period despite having to kill off two penalties, with a stifling PK, while conversely the Islanders' killed off one Ottawa penalty late in the period.
ISLANDERS 3, SENATORS 0
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Full Highlights

KINGER'S CALLS
Mayfield's Icebreaker
Lee Doubles the Scoring
Parise's Empty-Net Goal
The Islanders deployed a more offensive-minded second period as they outshot the Sens 7-5, but Forsberg came up with timely stops and Ottawa was strong in its transition play to disrupt the Islanders' offense from extended zone time.
"[Ottawa] jumped on us early and it took us a few shifts to get going, but they made it difficult," Trotz said. "We were trying to go through the neutral zone, and they were trying to jam up and did a good job. You just have to play the cards that are dealt, and they were jamming it up and throwing pucks to the net, going to the crease hard and we just had to play through that. We were loose with the puck, loose trying to force stuff, going to much east-west, they just play in straight lines, and we were going a little too much east-west and it looked like we were accomplishing something, but weren't accomplishing a whole lot."
With the score still locked at 0-0 stalemate heading into the final period of play, the Islanders came out firing on all cylinders. And despite their promising efforts - including a denied breakaway attempt from Mathew Barzal eight minutes into the frame - Forsberg held them off the scoresheet until 9:49 when Mayfield came up with the game's icebreaker.
The goal unraveled as the Islanders maintained zone time and continued to apply pressure on Forsberg. Brock Nelson fired off a shot from a sharp angle off an Anders Lee pass, but the shot deflected off the skate of Senators forward Dylan Gambrell. The puck popped out straight to Mayfield's stick in the low slot where the defenseman wired his shot short side to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead.

After taking the lead, the Islanders didn't let up. Instead, they kept the pressure on and doubled their lead to 2-0 at 17:25. The goal unfolded on a nice passing sequence as Casey Cizikas threaded his pass through the seam. Lee's initial shot from the doorstep was denied, but Nelson corralled the rebound which found its way back to Lee, where the Islanders captain banked his second attempt off Forsberg's shoulder. The goal marked Lee's 24th of the season.
Parise, who inked a one-year contract extension Monday afternoon, extended the Islanders' lead to 3-0 as he took a pass from Nelson and sent a shot from the neutral zone into Ottawa's empty net for his ninth goal of the season.

VARLAMOV SOLID IN FIRST SHUTOUT OF THE SEASON

It was a well-deserved result to officially earn his first shutout of the season for the Islanders' netminder who made his 20th start of the season and improved his record to 6-12-2. The veteran is also 3-0-1 in his last three starts.
Right from the get-go Varlamov was sharp in net as he stopped all 13 shots he faced in the opening frame. In the early minutes of play, Varlamov made consecutive stops on a point shot from Nick Holden and a subsequent stop on a tap-in attempt from Connor Brown.

With six minutes left in the first period, Varlamov made a vital stop on a Chris Tierney breakaway. A scrum broke out along the Sens' bench after Adam Pelech laid an open-ice hit on Ottawa's newly acquired winger Mathieu Joseph, while play continued Varlamov gloved down Tierney's attempt at the opposite end of the ice.
While the Isles netminder didn't face a hefty amount of action in the second period, he continued to make the necessary saves on five shots in that period to keep the Senators off the scoresheet heading into the third period.
"It was nice to turn it and get him a win and a shutout on top of it," Nelson said. "I'm sure it means a lot to him and it's huge when goalies get that. I say it more often than not, they give us a chance to win, so it was nice to get that for him."

STRONG EFFORT IN MAYFIELD'S OVERALL GAME

It was a solid season series against the Senators for Mayfield, who led the team in scoring with six points (1G, 5A) through the three meetings and posted two points in each game.
Mayfield was dominant against Ottawa not just in all three meetings but was especially impactful in the finale. He came through clutch as he scored the game winner, dished out an assist and blocked a game-high of five shots, including one block that led to regaining possession and countering for a sequence that led to Parise's empty-net goal.

The game was microsome of Mayfield's solid season with the team where he's now just one points shy of matching his career high of 19 points (4G, 15A) which he accomplished in 79 games during the 2018-19 season. He's one of two players on the team this season who has dressed in every single game and has totaled 17 points this season (3G, 15A) through 60 games.
Along with being healthy enough to play in every game, Mayfield showcased a consistent effort with his defense-first style of play while also showing improvements in the offensive side of his game.
"When Scotty was a little bit younger, like most defensemen, they see themselves as 'I can join the play' and 'I can do this'" Trotz said of Mayfield. "But it's when you do it is the key and he's got pretty good timing. He's not trying to force things; he's recognizing who he is. He can contribute and he can make some things happen, but he's a defender first and a hard defender first, great penalty killer, good stick, can handle weight and all that, but his order is right in his game. I'm a defender first, I can help out and I make good decisions for the most part when I do that. It was huge, he got the winning goal today."

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders return to UBS Arena on Thursday night to take on Detroit. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.