Leddy scores twice, Islanders defeat Senators

OTTAWA -- Nick Leddy had two goals and an assist, and the New York Islanders won their sixth straight game with a 4-2 victory against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Friday.

It was Leddy's first three-point game since Nov. 5, 2017.
"He's underappreciated around the League," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "He's such a great skater, he's the fastest guy we have on the team. It looks so effortless. Today, I just thought he was our best player."
WATCH: [All Islanders vs. Senators highlights]
Matt Martin had a goal and an assist, and Thomas Greiss made 30 saves for New York (7-3-0), which has outscored its opponents 19-11 during its winning streak.
"Part of it is good goaltending," Trotz said of the Islanders' success on defense this season. "Part of it is a little bit of a bend but don't break type of style that we play sometimes. There's a lot of commitment. … We had high commitment on the penalty kill today. This group has a lot of character, and they showed it today."

Tyler Ennis scored twice for Ottawa (2-7-1), which has lost five of its past six games.
"He's a confident player," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "When he has confidence, he scores and he scores in bunches."
Anders Nilsson allowed four goals on 16 shots before being replaced in the second period by Craig Anderson, who made eight saves.
"[Nilsson's] been outstanding," Smith said. "I've got no problem with his game. It's just that a couple [pucks] found their way in and I wasn't going to leave him in there. It is what it is. Our team has to play better in front of him and keep the chances down, especially the high-end chances."

Ennis scored his first goal with the Senators on a redirection of Thomas Chabot's point shot to make it 1-0 at 7:59 of the first period.
Leddy beat Nilsson five-hole with a backhand following an end-to-end rush to tie the game 1-1 at 13:00.
"I didn't think we were good enough in the first period," Smith said. "We didn't keep their talent off the rush. Certainly, they were flying by us. We probably gave up too much in the first period and then we were playing catch-up hockey the rest of the way."

Leddy gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 17:19 by converting a penalty shot with a wrist shot that went off the right post and in.
"It was definitely a new experience," said Leddy, who is the first defenseman in Islanders history to score on a penalty shot. "But just tried to give it my best effort, and it ended up going in."
Martin deflected Leddy's point shot to extend the lead to 3-1 at 4:58 of the second, and Derick Brassard made it 4-1 at 6:08 with a wrist shot after receiving a drop pass from Mathew Barzal.
"It was a gritty win," Leddy said. "I don't think it was our best game but gritty nonetheless, and we got the two points."
Ennis scored his second goal with a one-timer off a pass from Logan Brown on the power play to cut it to 4-2 at 7:08 of the third period.

Islanders forward Tom Kuhnhackl left the game at 12:29 of the first period after sliding awkwardly into the boards while battling for the puck with Senators defenseman Dylan DeMelo. Kuhnhackl had to be helped off the ice by his teammates.

They said it

"Two weeks ago, when we were 1-3-0, you guys were probably talking about how [our roster] wasn't the right fit, and now we've won six in a row. So at the end of the day, we believe in ourselves and we believe in the guys that we have in this locker room and the structure and detail that we play with, and we've been able to string some wins together. And that's what this League is all about. When you're going well, you just want to keep it going. There will come a time where we'll have to battle through some adversity, but if we can give ourselves as much of a cushion now, give ourselves enough wins, then we might be OK." -- Islanders forward Matt Martin
"It wasn't our most complete effort, for sure. We've just got to stop this, this one great game, one kind of lay an egg a little bit. [We] dug ourselves a hole early and tried to claw our way back. We played a little better as the game went on, but our margins for error are slim right now. We know that, and we can't dig ourselves holes."-- Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki

Need to know

Trotz said Kuhnhackl has a lower-body injury and will be re-evaluated Saturday. … Chabot has six points (one goal, five assists) during a five-game point streak.

What's next

Islanders:Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, NBCSP, NHL.TV)
Senators:Host the San Jose Sharks on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SN360, SN1, TVAS, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)