Live Blog: Islanders 4, Senators 2, Final

1:01 Hunter hits the empty net. Should seal the deal for the Isles.

2:05 Crowd getting antsy but the Isles finally clear.

3:37 The puck is spending more and more time in the Islanders' zone. Sutton delivers a huge hit in the neutral zone to excite the crowd.

5:12 MacDonald took a hit about a minute ago, but he appears to be okay.

7:55 Ruutu has taken a seat in the penalty box for Ottawa, now joined by Sim. Ten-minute misconducts for each. Not sure what they did, but it couldn't have been much more than jawing at each other.

11:56 Alfredsson finishes a gorgeous give and go with Heatley behind the net to make it 3-2.

13:20 Good pressure on the power play, but the Isles are unable to capitalize.

14:47 Heatley goes off for roughing.

15:32 MacDonald has made a number of good saves early in the period, including one there against the still shorthanded Sens.

17:09 Isles will go to another power play thanks to a holding penalty on Winchester.

18:03 Meyer rips a slapper from the point by Auld for his second of the game. Islanders lead 3-1.

20:00 Isles will start the period with 1:49 left on a power play. Bailey centering Guerin and Hunter, Weight and Streit at the points.

2nd Intermission

11.8 Sutton draws the second assist, and Fisher draws a high-sticking penalty to put the Isles on a power play to close out the period. Streit can hold the puck at the point, so this one will carry over to the third.

34.5 A Sim wrister from the right side deflects across the slot to a charging Meyer who deposits it in the open left side to give the Isles a 2-1 lead.

1:22 Smith takes exception to Colliton following a shot to the net and topples him as the whistle blows. Minor scrum of no consequence.

2:05 Bailey, Hilbert, and Hunter working some magic around the net, but Auld was there to stop the Hunter shot from the slot.

4:06 Sim stopped in front off a nice feed from Park. Best chance in a long time.

5:51 Anchorman quotes always make for a good diversion during a long break in the action of a slow game.

6:50 Nice hit from Witt along the boards earns some ooohs from the crowd.

7:33 The pace has slowed down quite a bit. Sensing some frustration on the part of Ottawa.

10:57 And we're back after some unfortunate technical difficulties. The Isles have squandered two power play chances and the chance to take the momentum in the game.

SECOND PERIOD

1st Intermission: Good job by the Isles to come out of that period all square. The Senators were running things early both physically and offensively. But the Isles gathered themselves sufficiently and spent some quality time in the Ottawa zone. Tim Jackman led all Islander forwards in ice time with 6:32.

0:02 Streit blocks a shot from the point to close out the period.

1:05 Spezza whistles one from above the circles and MacDonald's glove is just quick enough to keep it out of the net.

1:44 Sutton gets flagged for high-sticking.

2:35 Isles fortunate that a bad carom in their own zone occurred while the Sens were going for a change.

3:41 Gordon seems to be liking the Jackman-Colliton-Thompson line and their ice time bears it out so far.

5:18 Sim cuts in from the blue line with one man to beat. He goes down near the goal without getting a good shot off. No call on the play.

6:20 Guerin pushes a rebound just wide of Auld. Islanders getting more chances now. Hunter with the secondary assist on the Hilbert goal (Andy's 6th of the season).

7:19 Meyer grabs a loose puck at the point and fires it on Auld, Hilbert gets the deflection past the Sens' goalie to tie the game 1-1. Play under review. Great concentration by Hilbert as he was being cross-checked from behind as the shot approached. Review confirms the goal. 1-1.

7:34 Fisher rings a post.

9:30 Ruutu tried to get Jackman to drop the gloves but no combat developed.

12:28 Heatley finds room in the slot off a feed from the corner to give the Sens a 1-0 lead. Spezza and Alfredsson on the assists, if you can believe that.

17:00 The Senators are bringing the physical play tonight.

18:45 Spezza on a partial break rang one as loud as you can ring one off the post.

19:00 Bergenheim stopped on the doorstep by Auld.

19:45 Fisher knocked Colliton on his back side along the near boards.

20:00 (Remaining): Joey MacDonald is in goal for his 14th straight start. He's doing his best Rick DiPietro impression in every way.

FIRST PERIOD

It's Saturday Night Live at the Coliseum for tonight's clash between the 8-9-4 Senators and the 9-12-2 Islanders (that's 20 points apiece). I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and have recovered from yesterday's shellacking at the hands of the Boston Bruins.

My thanks again to Alex and Steve at Hockey Night on Long Island for having me on today. It was a fun show and the hosts did a great job at moving through a number of interesting topics.

Stay tuned for live coverage of tonight's action...

Tonight is Josh Bailey's tenth game of the season, his first knowing for certain that he is a New York Islander for the rest of the season (here's some nice analysis on his progress from IslesBlogger). Bailey already has as many power play assists as Frans Nielsen (3). The team leaders in that category are Weight (10), Streit (7), and Guerin (6)...The Islanders have already accumulated 136 games lost to injury this season...The club will again try for its eighth win of the month against seven losses (one in a shootout)...Today's player news includes Yann Danis switching places with Peter Mannino and Thomas Pock being waived.