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New York Islanders at Ottawa Senators

Thu Oct 157:00 PM ETESPN+Ottawa, ON
By JR·2 min read
Islanders(3-3-0)
Senators(5-2-0)
Thursday 10/157:00 PM

TLDR: Ottawa has won 5 of its first 7 games, and it has done it with its defense held together by tape. The New York Islanders come to the Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday, October 15, and their job is simple: find out how much the Senators have left back there.

THU 10/15, 7:00 PMESPN+
Islanders
(3-3-0)
WLWLW
Senators
(5-2-0)
LWWWL

Ottawa enters at 5-2-0 but with 4 regular defensemen out, including Jake Sanderson. It is coming off a 7-2 loss to St. Louis, played on the second night of a back-to-back with Linus Ullmark resting. The Islanders bring Bo Horvat's hot start and a strong early stretch from Ilya Sorokin, so the game likely turns on whether Ottawa's thinned blue line can contain them, with Ullmark's status in net still unconfirmed.

New York Islanders
  • Horvat scoring early, power-play goals in 3 straight
  • Sorokin's 165:31 shutout stretch, career-long
  • Palmieri and Maccelli scored early vs Vancouver
  • Let a 2-0 lead slip against slumping Canucks
  • Last win came against a team that has lost 5 straight
Ottawa Senators
  • Allowed 4 goals across 3 straight wins
  • 2 days off after the back-to-back
  • Ullmark rested for Thursday if healthy
  • Sanderson, Zub, Matinpalo, Crotty all out on defense
  • Gave up 4 3rd-period goals to the Blues
  • Ullmark day-to-day after collision in Boston

This one is about the Senators' blue line before it is about anything else. Jake Sanderson, Ottawa's top defenseman, has barely played since he got hurt in the season opener at Toronto. Artem Zub is still out with a knee injury. Nikolas Matinpalo went down with an upper-body injury and there's no timeline for his return, and Cameron Crotty is on IR. That's 4 regulars gone. For 3 games the Senators covered for it anyway, giving up 4 goals total in wins over the Flyers, Predators and Devils. Then the Blues scored 7, 4 of them in the 3rd period.

That 7-2 loss to St. Louis needs some context. It was the second night of a back-to-back, and Linus Ullmark got the night off. He's had a rough October too: he tweaked something in a crease collision with J.J. Peterka during the 4-1 win in Boston and sat out the 3rd period. Ottawa hasn't said who starts in goal Thursday. A healthy, rested Ullmark is the best fix available for a defense this thin, and 2 days off between games is the most rest the Senators have had in a while.

The Islanders show up with the kind of player who punishes a short-handed defense. Bo Horvat had 4 goals and an assist through the first 4 games, including a power-play goal in 3 straight, and he scored twice in the 4-1 win over Chicago. Then there's Ilya Sorokin. He went 165:31 without allowing a goal dating back to the opener against Toronto, the longest shutout stretch of his career and the 6th longest in franchise history.

New York's last game wasn't pretty, but it got the 2 points. Kyle Palmieri and Matias Maccelli put the Isles up 2-0 in the 1st against Vancouver. Max Sasson and Brock Boeser (on the power play) tied it in the 2nd, and a 3rd-period goal won it 3-2. The win came against a Canucks team that has now lost 5 straight. Letting a 2-goal lead slip at home is worth flagging. The Isles can't count on Ottawa to be as harmless as Vancouver has been.

New York Islanders
(3-3-0)
10/13WvsCanucks3-2
10/10LvsLightning3-5
10/08WvsBlackhawks4-1
10/06L@Rangers2-5
10/03WvsDevils6-0
Ottawa Senators
(5-2-0)
10/13LvsBlues2-7
10/12W@Devils4-1
10/10WvsPredators3-2
10/08WvsFlyers2-1
10/06L@Red Wings3-5

For Ottawa, the question is which team shows up Thursday: the one that won 3 straight on structure, or the one that fell apart against the Blues. The St. Louis loss had real excuses: tired legs, the backup in net, a patched-together defense. Only the first 2 have gone away. Until Sanderson or Zub comes back, the Senators are asking a depleted group to handle Horvat and an Islanders power play that has been cashing in. Puck drop is 7:00 PM ET.

Islanders Visit a Senators Blue Line Missing 4 Regulars | Polymarket Odds · Barstool Bush