Ottawa, Ontario (My Sportsbook) - The
Ottawa Senators try to win a playoff series for the second consecutive year tonight when they host the
New York Islanders in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series at Corel Centre.
After being stunned by the eighth-seeded Isles in Game 1, the Sens have responded with three straight victories, including a 3-1 triumph less than 24 hours ago. In the Wednesday win, Marian Hossa notched a goal and an assist and Patrick Lalime made 21 saves to back the effort.
Mike Fisher and Anton Volchenkov also tallied for Ottawa, which was eliminated from the first round for three straight years before breaking through against Philadelphia last season.
Adrian Aucoin scored the lone goal for the Islanders, while Garth Snow turned aside 25 shots.
It looked like it was going to be a long night for Snow and New York early on, as Fisher broke the ice a mere 28 seconds into the match. Volchenkov then made it 2-0 less than four minutes later.
"We got those two quick goals, and that made it just a great game for us," said Lalime. "I wasn't too busy. They had a few chances, but our defense and penalty killing was great."
New York went 0-for-5 on the power play Wednesday and continued to get little help from its top guns. Alexei Yashin, with two goals and an assist, is the only one who has chipped in during the set. Michael Peca, Mark Parrish and Jason Blake, who were also among the team's top-five scorers in the regular season, have combined for one assist in four games. Peca, who is battling several injuries, and Parrish have managed only five and two shots, respectively.
"We're a team that relies on 20 guys going, and we don't have 20 guys going right now," said Peca, who hasn't scored a goal since February 23.
The Islanders, making their second straight playoff appearance after a seven- year drought, will need to right the ship fast if they hope to push things to the limit as they did a year ago versus Toronto. Against the Maple Leafs in the 2002 first round, however, New York's spirited run to a seventh game was made possible by three wins in its own building. This time around, the Isles went 0-2 at Nassau Coliseum.
Game 6, if necessary, would be played Sunday on Long Island.
