Recap: Isles Rally For 6-3 Win Over Senators

Mathew Barzal had a three-point night (2G, 1A) as the New York Islanders rallied for a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators at Barclays Center.
Down 3-1 in the second period, Anders Lee, Johnny Boychuk, Barzal (2G) and Casey Cizikas rattled off five unanswered goals for the comeback win. The Isles four-goal third period tied a season high and the regulation win was also the Isles first when trailing after two periods. Overall, the Isles have won five of their last six games.
"It was a good team effort tonight," Barzal said. "We had the Christmas slump a little bit in the first period at least, so it was nice to get back on the horse, get a couple of goals there and feel good about ourselves going into tomorrow."

ISLES STAGE RESILIENT COMEBACK:

The Islanders may have trailed 3-1 when Cody Ceci prematurely ended Thomas Greiss' night, but the Isles were far from finished.
Anders Lee's team-leading 14th goal of the season got the ball rolling for the Isles at the end of the second period and once the third started, Barry Trotz was convinced his team was coming back.
"We started coming in the last 10 minutes of the second period," Trotz said. "We weren't getting anything and got a little frustrated, but we stayed the course and got a big goal at the end of the second and in the third I was sure we were coming back."
The Isles got a pair of quick strikes to start the third period, as Boychuk who missed the previous game for the birth of his son, tied the score with a clapper through traffic at 2:57. Less than two minutes later Barzal scored his first of the night, picking a corner over Mike McKenna. At that point it was all Isles. Barzal ripped a slap shot off the wing and past McKenna at 12:24 to make it 5-3 and Cizikas iced the game with an empty-netter.

GOALIE CHANGE SPARKS ISLES:

Sometimes a goalie change is just as much about the bench as it is about the goalies.
Trotz made the executive decision to pull Thomas Greiss (14 saves) after Cody Ceci made it 3-1 at 6:11 of the second period. The three goals weren't all on Greiss, who was left high and dry on Mark Stone's icebreaker in the first, but the coach wanted a spark, as he was unhappy with his team's sluggish start after the three-day Christmas break.
"I thought Thomas could have been a little sharper and our bench could have been a lot sharper," Trotz said.
The message was received.
"We left Greisser out to dry," Cizikas said. "Whenever there's a goalie change you know something has to be done. He's the one who took the blunt force of it from coming out of the game, but we found an extra gear and we pushed forward."
Lehner stopped all 10 shots he saw in relief.

BARZAL WITH THREE-POINT NIGHT:

Mathew Barzal recorded his first two-goal and three-point game of the season on Friday. The 21-year-old playmaker has made a concerted effort to shoot the puck more often and his goal-scoring ability was on display.
"I'm just trying to look at the net a little more," Barzal said. "I'm just trying to make the right play and if the shots there, it's there, if it's not, it's not. I have two smart players on my line and they can score, so I try to get them the puck and they do the same for me."
Barzal has five points (3G, 2A) in his last three games.
"I love when he's thinking 'score' rather than 'let's make a pass,'" Trotz said. "When he's attacking space like he did, he's very effective. I liked that about his game today."

NOTES:

Casey Cizikas' 10th goal of the season established a new career high… Robin Lehner has won three straight games… Josh Bailey finished the game with two points (1G, 1A)… The Islanders power play went 0-for-1 while the penalty kill was 1-for-2… Jordan Eberle (stiffness) and Cal Clutterbuck (lower body) both missed Friday's game.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders wrap up a back-to-back set in Toronto, ON on Saturday night. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.