The Ottawa Senators forced the New York Islanders into key turnovers and then took advantage of them in a 5-2 win at the Nassau Coliseum on Tuesday night. Mike Fisher and Jason Spezza each had a goal and an assist for the Senators who never trailed in the game.

Isles’ coach Ted Nolan was not satisfied with his team’s overall performance. “I think there were certain parts of the game we showed some jump, some enthusiasm, but when you play a team like Ottawa, you can’t go in spurts,” Nolan explained. “They’re too good of a team, they capitalize on mistakes and we made too many mistakes tonight. We just had mental lapses and we coughed up the puck.”

The Senators tallied twice just 35 seconds apart midway through the first period to jump out to a 2-0 lead. Andrej Meszaros took a shot from the point that deflected in off Islander defenseman Freddy Meyer’s stick and behind Rick DiPietro to help the Sens draw first blood on the power play.

A turnover helped make it 2-0. Antoine Vermette captured the puck in the Islanders' zone and made a pretty cross-ice pass to a wide open Chris Phillips just inside the New York blue line. Phillips had plenty of room and skated untouched to the left circle where he let a wrist shot go that beat DiPietro to the short-side to double the Ottawa lead.

Dean McAmmond cashed in on an Islanders' defensive breakdown to make it 3-0 Sens 6:38 into the second period. The play was set up on a pretty backhand pass by Fisher and McAmmond was left all alone in front of the goal to tap the puck into the net.

But the Islanders didn’t give in without a fight. After Blake Comeau hit a post and Martin Gerber denied Richard Park from in close, Sean Bergenheim finally got the Islanders on the board with just over four minutes left in the second period. A strong fore-check by Josef Vasicek set up the tap in for Bergenheim.

Bryan Berard added a power play goal on a well executed back door play just six and a half minutes into the third period and the Isles had pulled to within 3-2. Richard Park had the Isles’ best chance to tie the game at the 8:18 mark on a breakaway set up by a long pass by Meyer but he rushed his shot and Gerber made a chest save.

The Isles continued to put pressure on Gerber until a giveaway by Marc-Andre Bergeron led to the clinching goal by Fisher. Chris Neil took the loose puck and carried it behind the net with Bergeron draped all over him. Neil fired a perfect pass to Fisher, who gently put the puck into the net for a 4-2 Ottawa lead with just 4:57 left in the game. Jason Spezza added an empty-net goal to give the Sens their final margin of victory.

“We had a slow start but we were really pressing them in the third period,” center Mike Sillinger said. “We were controlling the game and coming on strong when we make a neutral zone mistake and it ends up in the net. I don’t think it was a 5-2 game.”

The loss kept the Islanders winless on home ice in 2008, leaving them 0-4-1 since beating the Devils on December 29th. It also left the Islanders searching for answers.

“I think we play smarter on the road,” Islander goalie Rick DiPietro explained. “We definitely keep the play less fancy and limit our mistakes and that’s something we have to incorporate into our game at home.”

“We go on the road, and we're pumped up in another team's building,” Sillinger said. “We have to show more desperation at home. We're finding ways to lose, and we have to turn it around quick.”

The Islanders don’t have long to wait for their next chance. They take on the Los Angeles Kings Thursday night at the Nassau Coliseum.

Notes

Both Ruslan Fedotenko and Andy Sutton missed the game with the flu.
Senators’ captain Daniel Alfredsson aggravated his injured hip and missed the entire third period. He is listed as day-to-day.
The Senators will reportedly fine goalie Ray Emery “heavily” for being late to practice on Monday. Emery served as the Sens’ backup on Tuesday night.