Ottawa Senators grab fourth straight victory 5-1 over New York Islanders -NHL Update
Ottawa grabbed its fourth straight victory along with clinching a playoff berth as Senators dominated New York Islanders, 5-1, Sunday night, April 1, 2012, at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.
Despite missing two of their top players, captain Daniel Alfredsson who is out with an illness and Jason Spezza who welcomed another child, Ottawa was able to use some of their younger players to take over the stage.
"We knew we were missing two key guys but we played a very solid and focused team game," said Senators coach, Paul MacLean. "The leadership on our team did a tremendous job all season to pull us up by our bootstraps and create a winning foundation."
For MacLean, this season was a make-it or break-it as the National Hockey League (NHL) was full of examples of teams firing their coaches after poor performances and how Ottawa had been performing these past two years, seeing him fired would not be surprising.
Senators had a major turnaround this time around as MacLean will be heading into the first postseason competition in his initial season behind the benches with the team.
Kyle Turris, a 22-year-old rookie who was acquired from Phoenix Coyotes earlier this season, had one of his best career performances picking up four points (2 goals, 2 assists) and showing his worth for the team.
"What a great feeling this is, to know we are in the playoffs," said Turris. "It was fun skating on a line with Milan tonight and doing so well. Definitely, this is a satisfying night for me."
Mark Streit fired off the first of the night at 7:55, giving New York the lead, followed by Kyle Turris at 16:40 to level the match.
Senators took over the second period as Sergei Gonchar broke the tie on a power play followed by Milan Michalek and Nick Foligno capping it off. Turris sealed the victory for Ottawa with their fifth straight of the night at 7:00 into round-two after assisting
two others.
Ottawa Senators have the next at home against Carolina Hurricanes while New York Islanders play against New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
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