Senators shout out Islanders, move step closer to 2026 NHL playoffs

The vintage playoff Ottawa Senators showed up on Saturday afternoon, shutting out the New York Islanders 3-0 at UBS Arena. Fans could hear a pin drop after Michael Amadio stripped Mathew Barzal of the puck to deposit an empty-netter to seal the victory.

The Sens managed just 16 shots on goal in the game but managed to make the Islanders pay on the special teams.

Ridly Greig opened the scoring in the first period with a shorthanded goal. His 13th of the season would hold up until midway through the third period. The shortie was huge, especially since the Islanders went 0-for-5 on the power play.

When it was the Senators’ turn with the man advantage, they managed to convert on a golden 5-on-3 power play opportunity in the third period.

Jake Sanderson tapped a loose puck past Ilya Sorokin to make the game 2-0 at that point. It was unfortunate for the Isles, who took two penalties about 30 seconds apart in the third. But the Islanders’ misfortune was the Senators’ gain. Ottawa capitalized when it mattered the most.

The Sens are now officially in the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Boston Bruins lost 3-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier in the day. While both the Senators and Bruins are tied with 96 points, the Sens get the top wild card slot due to the tiebreaker in their favour.

Senators engage in tough contest with Islanders

If the overall tempo of the Senators-Islanders matchup seemed slow, it was hardly that, especially in the early going. This was a case of a tight-checking game.

The game had plenty of fireworks, with a fight between captains kicking off right from the opening faceoff.

Senators captain Brady Tkachuk took on his Islanders counterpart in a spirited bout. The fisticuffs were just the beginning. A few minutes later in the period, a massive scrum broke out as Islanders forward Kyle MacLean levelled Nikolas Mantipalo after engaging star rookie Matthew Schaefer.

The game settled down somewhat after that, but remained physical and challenging on both ends. Ultimately, it was the Senators who pulled out the massive win.

The Sens will have a quick turnaround as they take on the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Sunday night. The good news is that a playoff spot is pretty much in the proverbial bag.

All the Senators need to clinch on Saturday night is to get a win by the Winnipeg Jets over the Philadelphia Flyers. That would take the pressure off Ottawa for the final two games of the regular season.