The Islanders look to extend their recent home ice success as they welcome in the Ottawa Senators to the Barclay’s Center on Sunday.
The Senators head into New York on Sunday after a win on home ice last night and while they have had their struggles playing against the Metro division with a meagre 6-15 mark in their last 21 contests they do match up well with the Islanders. Ottawa is in a mini slump right now as they have dropped four of their last six games and haven’t been able to take advantage of games in which they face off with teams with a losing record as they are 1-4 in their last five against a team under the .500 mark. Ottawa is expected to send Mike Condon back to the crease here while the Islanders will likely send Jaroslav Halak in to counter, though Thomas Greiss could be called on as well.
The Islanders got off to a slow start and still have plenty of work to do before they can claw their way back into playoff contention but they have been much better over the last month despite a sluggish 0-4 stretch. New York is led by John Tavares up front and with his talent and skill set he can get his team back into a game at a moment’s notice but so far that hasn’t translated into many victories and they have really struggled against the Atlantic lately as they are 19-39 in their last 58 games. New York is also a very underwhelming 7-19 in their last 26 against the Eastern Conference but will hope the Sens are gassed after a game yesterday with some travel time mixed in.
The Sens are 4-1 in their last five playing in the back end of a double header and have played to the OVER in four of their last five while the Isles are 5-11 in their last 16 playing on one day’s rest and 5-2 in their last seven Sunday games. Ottawa is the better team here and while the best player is with the Isles I think Ottawa’s depth is the difference in another road win.