OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators are struggling to find comfort in the moral victories these days.
With a 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders on Tuesday night the Senators find themselves mired in a six-game losing streak for the second time this season. Ottawa was trailing going into the third period, but found a way to tie things up only to watch the Islanders score the winner as Andrew Ladd was left all alone at the side of the net to tip home a Thomas Hickey shot.
"It's frustrating," said Matt Duchene, who had a goal and two assists. "I thought we were probably the better team start to finish. We had a lot of sustained pressure in their end, some really good scoring chances and Halak was good for them. It's frustrating, even though the points don't mean anything right now, you want to win games."
Anders Lee, Anthony Beauvillier and Brock Nelson also scored for the Islanders (31-35-10). Jaroslav Halak made 33 saves for the win.
Erik Karlsson and Bobby Ryan also scored for Ottawa (26-38-11), as Mike Condon stopped 27 shots.
Ryan tied the game 3-3 for Ottawa 15:26 into the third period after put a shot on goal and New York's Brandon Davidson deflected it into his own net.
Just over two minutes later, Ladd scored the winner.
"It was a little scrambly game, but we kept fighting and it was good to see (Ladd) get the winner," said Islanders coach Doug Weight. "We had to weather some storms. They put a lot of pucks on the net. They had some pretty good power play looks and we managed to hold on so it was good.
"It was a good win."
Trailing 2-1, the Islanders tied the game in the opening minutes of the second as Beauvillier chipped the puck past Condon with Jordan Eberle in front to screen.
Like the Senators, the Islanders are playing the string out and searching for motivation on a nightly basis.
"As athletes we want to win, we hate losing so we want to compete, we want to go out there and work hard do the right thing," said Beauvillier. "It's about pride, it's about playing for us and it's about feeling good about ourselves."
The Senators had a number of chances to regain the lead as they outshot New York 13-7, but Halak made several big saves to keep it tied 2-2.
Nelson gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead with 1:18 remaining in the second as he fired a wrist shot past Condon for his 18th of the season.
The Islanders opened the scoring on the power play at the six-minute mark as Lee, with his 39th, backhanded a John Tavares rebound past Condon.
The Senators then scored twice to take the lead. Jean-Gabriel Pageau's shot went in off Duchene and then Karlsson's ninth of the season put Ottawa in front.
Players were happy to have their captain back in the lineup. Karlsson had skipped Ottawa's road game in Carolina as he and his wife grieved the loss of their unborn son.
"I was happy to see him score," said Duchene of Karlsson. "It's a tough situation and to see him find one, I'm sure it felt good for him in a world right now where he feels pretty down. It was nice to see."
Ottawa native Ben Sexton, who was recalled Sunday, played his second NHL game and first on home ice. His father, Randy, was the Senators general manager from 1993-95.
Notes: Ottawa D Ben Harpur was a healthy scratch for the Senators. RW Mark Stone missed his ninth straight game with a leg injury, while Marian Gaborik missed his third straight game with an undisclosed injury.
Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press
