Islanders win sixth straight game

NEW YORK --The New York Islanders wrapped up their season with a 4-2 win against the Ottawa Senators at Barclays Center on Sunday.
The Senators, who finished second in the Atlantic Division, will play the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which they didn't know when they left the arena; the Toronto Maple Leafs lost 3-2 at the Columbus Blue Jackets later Sunday to slip to third in the Atlantic.

WATCH: All Senators vs. Islanders highlights
Andrew Ladd, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and Jason Chimera scored for the Islanders (41-29-12), who were eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday. They finished the season with a six-game winning streak. Thomas Greiss made 32 saves in his first start since March 30.
"It's always a weird feeling when the season ends, especially when you don't make the playoffs," Islanders forward Josh Bailey said. "That side of it's disappointing, but the way we finished I think we're all proud of. I think we set out to try to win six; we knew that was the only way we were going to have a chance. We won six, which is what we set out to do. We just came up short."
Bobby Ryan and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored and Mike Condon made 17 saves for the Senators (44-28-10), who scratched 11 players in their regular-season finale.
"I think we are a team that is ideally built for the playoff grind," Ryan said. "We've got four lines -- and even more now, five or five-and-a-half lines of guys that can step in and do the job. We're big, we're grinding, have some speed. We've got a lot of good things, and a lot of depth on the back end and good goaltending. Really, [the] sky's the limit. I'm really, really excited for what this team can do."

Ryan scored his 13th of the season with 1:06 left in the second period when he beat Greiss with a wrist shot from the left circle to make it 3-1.
Pageau made it 3-2 when he took a pass from behind the net by Alexandre Burrows and quickly shot it over Greiss for his 12th goal at 2:34 of the third period.
Ladd gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead 3:23 into the game. Johnny Boychuk took a slap shot from the right point that hit Alan Quine's stick in front and trickled to the left side to Ladd, who quickly put it past Condon for his 23rd goal of the season.
Chimera scored his 20th into an empty net with 1:08 remaining.

Goal of the game

Nelson made it 3-0 at 13:52 of the second period when he took a long pass from Adam Pelech, skated in alone from the Senators blue line and beat Condon with a backhand shot for his 20th goal of the season.

Save of the game

Greiss read the play beautifully when Tommy Wingels sent a pass into the slot for Andreas Englund and made a pad save on Englund's wrist shot with 18:03 remaining.

Highlight of the game

Lee scored his 34th goal of the season at 8:17 of the second period when he roofed Bailey's cross-ice feed over Condon to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead.

Unsung performance of the game

Islanders forward Connor Jones won seven of 10 faceoffs, had five hits and blocked two shots in 16:54 of ice time.

They said it

"We have depth. Whoever is called upon to go out and play, they're ready to go. That's how you have to approach it. Be focused. When it comes to playoffs, it's not about individuals, it's about the team, and what the team needs. Whenever you are called upon, just be ready to go and bring what you can to the table, and do it to the best of your ability." -- Senators forward Chris Neil
"When you miss playoffs, there's only one thing you really remember, and that's the empty feeling. At this point, it's tough to look at the good and the positive things that happened this year. For me, obviously it was a big adjustment coming to New York and getting comfortable with the group and my role here and the move here. Hopefully I'll come in next year and it's a little smoother steering." -- Islanders forward Andrew Ladd

Need to know

The Senators scratched goalie Craig Anderson, defensemen Dion Phaneuf, Marc Methot, Cody Ceci and Erik Karlsson, and forwards Kyle Turris, Zack Smith, Derick Brassard, Viktor Stalberg, Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman. "Right now, it looks like we're going to have everybody to start [the playoffs]," coach Guy Boucher said. … The Islanders went 24-12-4 after Doug Weight replaced Jack Capuano as coach on Jan. 18. "You look at where we came from when he took over and the focus that he had, the energy that he put into it, the care he takes of us and the communication, everything that goes into it … he's been awesome," Lee said. "He really turned us around. I think we all believe in him, we follow him, and we want to play for him." … Weight said John Tavares may have been able to return from his lower-body injury in the middle of the first round of the playoffs.

What's next

Senators:HostGame 1 of Eastern Conference First Round against Boston Bruins on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; Sportsnet, TVA Sports, NHLN)
Islanders:Season over