Recap: Senators 6, Islanders 5

It's not often that the New York Islanders - the NHL's highest-scoring team - loses an offensive shootout.
Despite scoring five goals, the Islanders were on the wrong end of a 6-5 final, having their four-game winning streak snapped by the Ottawa Senators on Friday at Barclays Center.

"I almost felt bad for both goalies," head coach Doug Weight said. "Everything was going in. It stings, but it's almost a good learning tool."
The Isles and Senators were tied 5-5 just over halfway through the game and the game looked destined for 10-10 before a pair of goalie changes settled things down. It was relatively quiet in the second half, but Ryan Dzingel's power-play goal 1:38 into the third was ultimately the difference.
The loss was the Islanders' first defeat at home in regulation this season and their first loss when scoring five goals.

"It was a back-and-forth game," said John Tavares, who tied Pat Lafontaine for sixth on the Islanders all-time scoring lead (566 points) with an assist. "We had our looks at times. Sometimes the puck doesn't go your way. A couple inches here or there."
Tavares called it a bitter loss and Weight lamented that his team couldn't hold a pair of leads in the second period. Friday's game was the anthesis to last Saturday's stingy defensive struggle in Ottawa and it started early. Down 2-0 midway through the first period Anthony Beauvillier and Anders Lee rattled off a pair of goals 2:14 apart to tie it up 2-2.

A puck off Bobby Ryan's skate had the Isles down 3-2 after one, but that didn't faze New York, who entered the game averaging 3.6 goals-per-game. Lee's second of the game tied it up again, guiding the puck in with one hand after throwing Erik Karlsson out of his office in front of the net.
Andrew Ladd then put the Islanders ahead with his seventh of the season at 4:17, but on a night where the Senators were busting out of an offensive slump, 4-3 wasn't going to cut it. Thomas Chabot's one-timer beat Thomas Greiss (15 saves) at 8:26, though Jason Chimera answered for the Islanders 14 seconds later, skating in alone on a breakaway after Karlsson's stick shattered at the Isles blue line. Chimera shot low on Craig Anderson and shed the weight of a 24-game goalless drought with an emphatic celebration, while also sending Anderson to the bench in favor of backup Mike Condon.

Greiss didn't last much longer, as Mike Hoffman's tying goal made it 5-5 and led to a Jaroslav Halak - who ultimately stopped 14-of-15 in the loss - relief appearance.
Tied 5-5 to start the third, Dzingel buried his second of the night on a Senators power play, as Ottawa went 2-for-3 with the man advantage on Friday. The Islanders couldn't solve Condon (19 saves), who held firm during a furious last-minute push, including a last-second try from Eberle.
"We took that lead back twice," Weight said. "You have to go for the throat, simplicity get in and work. We just tried to make it cute, let them back in it a couple of times and credit to them."

NOTES AND NUMBERS:

With an assist on Lee's second goal, John Tavares tied Pat LaFontaine for sixth on the Islanders all-time points list (566).
Anders Lee extended his goal streak to three games and his 15 goals this season are currently fourth in the NHL. Tavares is third with 16 goals this season.
Mathew Barzal's career-long seven-game point streak ended on Friday.
Ryan Pulock and Dennis Seidenberg drew back into the lineup replacing Thomas Hickey and Scott Mayfield.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders embark on a four-game road trip starting on Monday in Florida.