Forsberg, Senators hand Islanders 6th straight loss

OTTAWA -- Anton Forsberg made 21 saves, and the Ottawa Senators handed the New York Islanders their sixth straight loss with a 2-1 win at Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday.

"I thought we played well," Forsberg said. "I thought we fought hard all game for this team. We just stayed with it the whole game and I think that's the biggest part. I think that's what we have to do moving forward here to get some more wins."
Forsberg entered the game at 8:05 of the second period after Cam Talbot (14 saves) left with a lower-body injury.
"We'll know more tomorrow, but certainly it looks like he won't be available before the [All-Star] break," Senators coach D.J. Smith said.
Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist, and Jake Sanderson had two assists for Ottawa (21-23-3), which had lost two straight.
"There was a lot of frustration after the Winnipeg game, the way we were playing," Giroux said of the 5-1 loss to the Jets on Saturday. "I think we had a couple good practices and a couple good meetings to get back on the same page, and it was a way better effort tonight."

Brock Nelson scored, and Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves for the Islanders (23-22-5), who are 0-4-2 in their past six games and 1-7-3 in their past 11.
"We battled. You can't take that away," New York forward Casey Cizikas said. "We battled hard. We worked. It's just unfortunate. We've got to find a way to win these games. It's definitely tough, but we've got to dig deep. We've just got to find a way."
In their past 11 games, the Islanders are 31st in the NHL in goals per game (1.64) and last on the power play (3.7 percent; 1-for-27, two short-handed goals against).
"I thought as the game went on we started to take the game over a little bit, but we just couldn't find the back of the net," New York coach Lane Lambert said.
Shane Pinto gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 15:48 of the first period. Shortly after a power play expired, he swiped the puck into the net with his backhand after Giroux's initial shot deflected off Nelson's stick.
"I thought we played good defense," Pinto said. "The last couple days we harped on that. I thought we played fast and just thought we played a good game."

Giroux made it 2-0 at 3:28 of the second period when he dove to one-time in a rebound on a power play.
Ridly Greig
, who was making his NHL debut, had the primary assist.
"He's fun to play with," Giroux said of Greig. "His game is very mature. I remember my first game, mentally I wasn't very there, so it's pretty impressive the way he was playing and winning puck battles. We had a good time."
Greig, who was selected by Ottawa in the first round (No. 28) of the 2020 NHL Draft, said he idolized Giroux growing up.
"It was unreal," Greig said. "You know, obviously a dream come true, just to get out there and obviously to get the win. It's pretty good."
Greig finished with a game-high eight shots in 13:46 of ice time.
"He looked unreal, honestly," Pinto said. "That two-way game, we're going to need that, and he stepped up big for us tonight, and to play that kind of game in your first NHL game is awesome. Very happy for him."
Nelson cut it to 2-1 at 16:07 of the second. He got to a loose puck during a scramble in front, cut to the slot and scored blocker side on Forsberg.
"[Varlamov] played really well and we didn't help him out," Nelson said.
NOTES:Nelson has four points (three goals, one assist) during a four-game point streak. … Ottawa defenseman Nikita Zaitsev had two shots and two hits in 16:47 of ice time in his return after missing 12 games with a lower-body injury.