Islanders blow two-goal lead in third, lose to Senators

The Olympic break will seem a little bit longer for the Islanders after their latest loss.

They couldn't hold on to a two-goal lead in the third period last night and fell to the Ottawa Senators, 4-3, at Nassau Coliseum.

Instead of closing out their third win in four games, the Islanders allowed three straight goals in the third period. They head into the break six points out of eighth place in the Eastern Conference and in a tie for 12th.

"It's tight from 12th all the way up to sixth," said Blake Comeau, who scored twice against the Senators and had three goals and an assist in the two games at the Coliseum over the weekend. "Those were two points we definitely needed and we're all disappointed to see them go, whether it was before the break or not."

"It definitely would've been more enjoyable if we had a bunch of wins before the break," defenseman Andy Sutton said, "but I guess we've got to use this as a chance to regroup, rest up and get ready for the next 20 games."

Comeau recorded the first multi-goal game of his career and Matt Moulson added a goal as the Islanders took a 3-1 lead in the second period, and they had a chance to extend it.

They had 54 seconds of five-on-three power-play time to begin the third period but missed an opportunity to extend the lead to three goals.

Failing to capitalize on the two-man advantage was a turning point in the game, according to coach Scott Gordon. "We score there,'' he said, "and it makes the difference."

Said goaltender Dwayne Roloson, who made 31 saves: "Obviously, when you kill a five-on-three, there's momentum that changes, but at that point we still controlled the game; it was 3-1."

Roloson suffered his fifth straight loss and sixth in his last seven games. "We didn't have to do anything different, just keep playing,'' he said. "Unfortunately, we made some mistakes in our end and they ended up in our net."

Alex Kovalev pulled the Senators within a goal at 3:47 of the third and Jason Spezza tied it with a power-play goal at 9:13. Mike Fisher's tip-in gave Ottawa a 4-3 lead at 10:46.

The teams traded goals in the first period. Jarkko Ruutu gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 6:16 and Comeau scored on a slap shot from the left circle at 15:54.

After Moulson scored his 22nd goal of the season at 5:05 of the second period, Comeau extended the Islanders' lead to 3-1 at 13:57 when he stopped the puck with his left skate and lifted it past goaltender Brian Elliott (34 saves). But it didn't hold up.

"I've got to stop the puck," Roloson said. "Sometimes you get chances to get the win and sometimes you don't."

Instead of mulling their latest loss, Roloson said the Islanders will have to erase it from their memory bank and find a way to rebound when play resumes in March.

Said Roloson: "We've got to forget it as soon as we can and be ready to go after the break and push on to do whatever we have to do to move back in the standings and get into the spot where we're in playoff position."