Noah Dobson scored the tie-breaking goal early in the third period Thursday night for the host New York Islanders, who edged the Ottawa Senators 3-2 in Elmont, N.Y.
The Senators played the final 31-plus minutes without defenseman Erik Brannstrom, who was wheeled off the ice with 11:17 left in the second after he hit his neck on the ice following a check from Clutterbuck.
Brannstrom didn’t move as Senators trainers quickly reached the ice and the stretcher was wheeled out of a tunnel. Nine Ottawa players took a knee and the Islanders stood in a circle in a silent UBS Arena as Brannstrom was moved onto the stretcher. Brannstrom’s teammates tapped him on the lower leg as he was wheeled off the ice.
Per a Senators social media post at 9:30 p.m. ET, Brannstrom was “alert, has use of his extremities and has been transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.”
Bo Horvat and Cal Clutterbuck scored in the first for the Islanders, who snapped a three-game losing streak (0-2-1). Goalie Ilya Sorokin made 45 saves.
Claude Giroux and Jakob Chychrun scored in the second for the Senators, who have lost three straight (0-3-0). Goalie Joonas Korpisalo recorded 35 saves.
The Senators couldn’t take advantage of a 5-on-3 opportunity in the first 1:06 of the third nor the next 54 seconds of a 5-on-4 chance before Dobson put the Islanders ahead with a slap shot from the slot at 6:45.
Horvat opened the scoring 2:41 into the game and just five seconds after Rourke Chartier was whistled for interference. The Islanders doubled the lead a little more than 10 minutes later, when Casey Cizikas sent a backhand feed from behind the Senators’ net to Clutterbuck, who swooped into the slot and fired a shot past Korpisalo with 6:55 left.
The Senators tied the score during a second period in which the Islanders committed six penalties. Giroux cut the lead in half at the 6:52 mark when his shot sailed past Sorokin, who was screened by teammate Ryan Pulock and Ottawa left winger Brady Tkachuk.
The Senators tied the score on Chychrun’s even-strength goal at 12:25 of the second period, a little more than four minutes after Brannstrom was injured.
–Field Level Media
