(Sports Network) - The Ottawa Senators face a quick turnaround on Sunday
afternoon when they continue a five-game road trip against the New York
Islanders.
The Sens have lost seven of their past eight on the road, including the first
two of their current swing. They had a five-game overall winning streak
snapped with an overtime setback in Boston on Thursday before dropping a 2-1
decision to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon.
Marc Methot scored in Ottawa's first regulation loss since Feb. 16, while Ben
Bishop ended with 39 saves as No. 1 netminder Craig Anderson missed his fourth
straight game because of a sprained right ankle.
That is just one of a few injuries that the Sens are dealing with and they
lost defenseman Mike Lundin to a concussion just past the midway mark of the
first period. He was hurt on hit by the Flyers' Harry Zolnierczyk, who was
given a five-minute major for charging and 10-minute game misconduct.
"I thought it was the proper call and the proper circumstances will be taken
by the league," said Sens head coach Paul MacLean.
Lundin will join the likes of Jason Spezza (back surgery), Erik Karlsson (left
Achilles surgery) and Milan Michalek (sprained knee) on the sidelines.
Ottawa won't have much time to think about the impact of the latest injury
ahead of this game against the Islanders and Methot thinks that may be a good
thing for the club.
"We can just put this one behind us and you know, we're playing in roughly 24
hours from now again," he said afterwards. "It's an opportunity for us to get
back up on our feet and keep going."
While the Sens try to pick up their first win of the road trip, the Islanders
have dropped the first three contests of a seven-game homestand and sit just
2-8-1 on Long Island after a 5-4 overtime setback to the Toronto Maple Leafs
on Thursday.
The Isles failed to hold a pair of early one-goal leads and gave up three
scores in the second period to the Maple Leafs. However, Andrew MacDonald and
Kyle Okposo notched third-period tallies to tie the game before the Leafs won
it just 71 seconds into overtime.
"We showed some character in the third period after a lull in the second,"
said New York head coach Jack Capuano. "But we can't be satisfied with a
point."
Okposo added two assists and Evgeni Nabokov yielded all five goals on 28 shots
faced.
The Islanders have lost four straight and six of their past nine against the
Senators, including a 3-1 loss in Ottawa on Feb. 19.
The Sens have won four of their past six on the road versus the Isles.
The Sports Network