Mandolese makes 46 saves in NHL debut, Senators top Islanders in shootout

ELMONT, N.Y. --Kevin Mandolese won his NHL debut when he made 46 saves, including five in overtime, for the Ottawa Senators in a 3-2 shootout victory against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old was recalled from Belleville of the American Hockey League after goalie Anton Forsberg sustained an MCL injury in both knees against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. Ottawa is also without goalie Cam Talbot, who sustained a lower-body injury Jan. 25.
"He's a confident kid," Senators coach D.J. Smith said of Mandolese. "He's been up-and-down a bunch of times. He was [in the ECHL] at some point this year but he's got enough confidence to get in there, and that's the biggest thing. He wasn't afraid of the moment."

Tim Stutzle
and Brady Tkachuk each had a goal and an assist for the Senators (26-24-3), who have won six of their past seven games, including 4-3 in overtime at home against the Calgary Flames on Monday.
"We know there is room to make up [in the playoff race]," said Tkachuk, who is Ottawa's captain. "But we're not looking at the playoff picture and situation. We're just going in there, playing fast, kind of [doing] our jobs every day and just putting ourselves in the best position to move forward."
Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson scored for the Islanders (27-23-7), who went 1-for-6 on the power play and lost their third in a row (0-1-2). Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves.
"It's disheartening when you put in an effort and can't break through and put up enough numbers on the scoreboard," New York coach Lane Lambert said. "At the same time, I thought there were some good things done tonight. We just have to move forward and get ready for the next game (against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday)."

New York failed to score on a 4-on-3 man-advantage in overtime after Ottawa was penalized for having too many men on the ice at 1:45.
"You [have] to try to be creative," Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson said, "You can't be stagnant. It's easy for the [penalty] killers and the goalie. We [tried] to move around, [but] it obviously didn't work tonight."
Stutzle and Drake Batherson each scored in the shootout for the Senators. Bo Horvat shot wide for New York, and Mandolese made a pad save against Kyle Palmieri.
Pulock gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 5:47 of the second period with a snap shot from between the face-off circles. It was Pulock's first goal since Dec. 23 (22 games).
Stutzle tied it 1-1 at 17:32 when he used Pulock as a screen to beat Sorokin with a wrist shot from the right circle for his fourth goal in four games.
Tkachuk gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead at 3:41 of the third period on a redirection of Stutzle's feed from the right circle for a power-play goal. It was Tkachuk's third goal in four games.
''I think we dominated the first period, and then they were a little bit faster than us,'' Stutzle said. ''As soon as we started playing fast again, I think we dominated the game.''

Nelson tied it 2-2 on the power play at 7:13 with a one-timer from the right circle after a feed from Dobson.
The Islanders outshot the Senators 15-6 in the third and 5-0 in overtime.
"No matter how many shots [against there were], I just want to be there for the team and give [them] a chance to win," Mandolese said.
NOTES: Stutzle has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in his past six games. … Nelson's goal extended his point streak to 11 games (seven goals, six assists). … Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau did not play because of an upper body injury. He was replaced by forward Otto Koivula, who played 6:36 in his season debut after being recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League earlier Monday. … Each team had 18 shots on goal in the second.