Senators shut out Islanders for 4th straight win, clinch playoff berth

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Linus Ullmark made 23 saves, and the Ottawa Senators won their fourth straight game, 3-0 against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Saturday.

With the New Jersey Devils defeating the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 later on Saturday, the Senators clinched a berth into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They are tied at 96 points for the first wild-card spot with the Boston Bruins, and hold a 37-31 advantage in the regulation wins tiebreaker.

“Huge, huge win,” Ridly Greig said. “Yeah, 60 minutes. A gritty win, a gritty road win. Yeah, you love to see it. … It's an exciting time, the best time of year. Two months ago, it was maybe a little ugly, but our team is confident. I think we always knew we were going to be in this spot.”

Greig scored short-handed and had an assist, Jake Sanderson scored on the power play and Michael Amadio had a goal and an assist for the Senators (43-27-10).

It was Ullmark’s third shutout of the season for Ottawa, which was a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill, allowing only three shots on goal. Ullmark has started each game during the winning streak.

“The way that the guys battled in front of me, making sure that they didn't really have any opportunities to set up a long extension time in our own zone, speaks volumes,” Ullmark said. “They did a great job on the entries and everything. When we needed the clears, we got the clears.”

The Senators played the last 18:03 without captain Brady Tkachuk. 

“He just wasn’t feeling well,” coach Travis Green said.

Ilya Sorokin made 13 saves for the Islanders (43-32-5), who have lost five of their past six games and are three points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division with two games remaining. 

New York hosts the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday.

“I liked a lot of the things we did,” said Pete DeBoer, who lost for the first time as New York’s coach (1-1-0). “We defended well. We didn't give up much. We created some stuff. I thought the short-handed goal obviously took some of the momentum away from the first period. I thought we were on our toes, and then it turned into a lot of special teams the rest of the way.

“They won the special-teams battle. It's tough to win in this league, this time of year, if you don't win the special-teams battle.”

Greig gave the Senators a 1-0 lead with a short-handed goal at 13:06 of the first period. With Drake Batherson in the box for holding, Islanders defenseman Tony DeAngelo lost the puck to Amadio at Ottawa’s blue line before feeding Greig off the rush. Greig finished with a backhand over Sorokin’s left pad.

“The short-handed goal is on me,” DeAngelo said. “I’ve got to just decide to stay back there. I thought I had it, to be honest, and I didn’t get puck or body. So, I’ve got to take responsibility for that shorty.”

Sanderson made it 2-0 at 12:36 of the third period during a 5-on-3 power play. Sorokin stopped a one-timer from Dylan Cozens before Sanderson stuffed the puck in from the crease.

The goal came after Ullmark closed the five-hole at 1:28 to deny Calum Ritchie’s power-play try from the top of the crease, then got a piece of a Marc Gatcomb’s rush shot with his right arm at 10:01.

Amadio scored an empty-net goal at 17:29 for the 3-0 final.

“We’ve talked about playing 200-foot hockey -- not just tonight but all year, really,” Green said. “That was a really good example of it. I thought [the Islanders] played a hard game; they didn’t give up much either. There was not a lot of room out there for either team, and we just found a way to win a game.”

NOTES: Grieg’s goal was the Senators’ eighth while short-handed this season; the Carolina Hurricanes lead the NHL with 12. … The Islanders played without forward Maxim Shabanov because of an upper-body injury. He was replaced by Kyle MacLean, who did not have a shot on goal in 8:19 of ice time.