Islanders-Senators preview: Isles looking to end losing streak in Jean-Gabriel Pageau's return to Ottawa
Jean-Gabriel Pageau of the Islanders celebrates his second-period goal against the Rangers at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on Feb. 25, 2020. Credit: Jim McIsaac
OTTAWA, Ont. – It’s certain to be an emotional homecoming for Jean-Gabriel Pageau. But he and his new Islanders teammates are most concerned with ending their losing streak on Thursday night against the Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.
“It’s emotional for him, I don’t know if it’s emotional for us,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “I think we play too much into that. Our emotion should be focused on winning a hockey game. We were not good the last game [a 6-2 loss to the Canadiens at Barclays Center on Tuesday night]. We got it handed to us early at home. We just need to respond the right way and play to our strengths. That’s a 200-foot, hard game.”
The Islanders are in an 0-2-2 skid and are in the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. They trail the Blue Jackets, who have played three more games, by one point for the first wild-card position.
It will be Pageau’s fifth game with the Islanders since he was acquired on the Feb. 24 NHL trade deadline for a first-round pick in 2020, a second-round pick in 2020 and a conditional third-round pick in 2022, then promptly signed to a six-year, $30 million extension. He grew up in the Ottawa area and spent his first six-plus seasons in the NHL with the Senators.
“I think the last time I dressed in this room was in the training camp,” Pageau said outside the visitor’s dressing room after the morning skate. “It feels a little weird to be on the other side. I’m a little nervous but I think that’s good nerves. It wouldn’t be normal if I wasn’t. I’m happy with the new team but I’m also grateful for everything I lived here in Ottawa.”
Trotz began shuffling his lines quickly in the loss to the Canadiens and Pageau is expected to start Thursday’s game centering Anthony Beauvillier and Josh Bailey.
The Islanders have scored just four, five-on-five goals in the losing streak and have been outscored by an aggregate 17-7.
Derick Brassard, expected to start on Brock Nelson’s right wing, has gone eight games without a point. Mathew Barzal has gone 14 games without a goal and has just one goal over his last 22 games. Beauvillier has gone five games without a point and seven games without a goal. Michael Dal Colle has gone 13 games without a point.
“If it’s not coming easy, you don’t worry about winning the game, 4-3,” Trotz said. “You just worry about outplaying the other team. Don’t worry about every shift you have to score, every shift you have to get a scoring chance. It’s all about playing the right way, outplaying the other team and things will happen. When you’re trying to force things or chasing the game, you get out of your normal thinking patterns. Usually, it doesn’t end up too well for us. We need better starts and we need our top guys to be dominating players.”
“It’s within our group,” Beauvillier said. “We haven’t really been playing the way we should. We’re fortunate enough to still be in the playoff push and still be in one of the spots. It’s about just being relaxed out there and being confident. We all know what we have to do. We all know how good a team we are when we’re on. It’s just about getting back to our identity.”
The game will be the first since defenseman Johnny Boychuk needed 90 stitches on his left eyelid after being cut by Artturi Lehkonen’s skate blade on Tuesday.
Noah Dobson will go in for Boychuk, paired with Nick Leddy, marking just the third time this season the rookie right-hander will be used on his natural side.
Thomas Hickey was brought up from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport on an emergency recall.
The Senators, long out of the playoff race, are in a 2-4-1 skid, though defenseman Thomas Chabot has a four-game point streak with a goal and three assists in that span.
Here are the projected lineups:
Islanders (35-22-8)
Anders Lee-Mathew Barzal-Jordan Eberle
Michael Dal Colle-Brock Nelson-Derick Brassard
Anthony Beauvillier-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Josh Bailey
Matt Martin-Otto Koivula-Cal Clutterbuck
Andy Greene-Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews-Scott Mayfield
Nick Leddy-Noah Dobson
Semyon Varlamov (19-13-5, 2.56 goals-against average, .916 save percentage)
Senators (23-32-12)
Brady Tkachuk-Chris Tierney-Connor Brown
Rudolfs Balcers-Colin White-Bobby Ryan
Anthony Duclair-Nick Paul-Jayce Hawryluk
Mikkel Boedker-Matthew Peca-Scott Sabourin
Thomas Chabot-Ron Hainsey
Mike Reilly-Nikita Zaitsev
Andreas Englund-Christian Jaros
Craig Anderson (9-16-2, 3.35, .897)
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
More Islanders
