Islanders pull out win over Senators despite losing Adam Pelech, Sebastian Aho

OTTAWA, Ontario — The Islanders might not have a gutsier win all season.

Playing essentially the whole game with only four defensemen after Adam Pelech and Sebastian Aho exited early in the first period, the Islanders extended their winning streak to three with a 5-3 victory over the Senators on Friday night at Canadian Tire Centre.

“I think when you look at big moments in a season, this is a pretty big moment,” Kyle Palmieri told Newsday. “It could have been easy for these guys to hang their head and say this wasn’t going to be the night. But they gutted it out.”

Noah Dobson logged 31:05 and Alexander Romanov played 30:02, career highs for both, according to team statistician Eric Hornick. Ryan Pulock was on the ice for 28:47 and Scott Mayfield played 26:19.

Romanov had two assists — his first two of the season — and Dobson and Mayfield each had one.

“It really was an incredible effort,” coach Lane Lambert said. “We knew real early in the game what we were up against.”

“Just a gutsy effort from them,” said Anders Lee, whose third goal in four games gave the Islanders a 4-1 lead at 9:57 of the second period and came a franchise record-tying six seconds after Mathew Barzal’s power-play goal.

The question now is how those four defensemen will be able to function on Saturday night against the Flyers at UBS Arena and whether the Islanders (8-6-5), who are on a 3-0-2 spurt, will have to recall anyone from their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport. Rookie Samuel Bolduc is the lone extra defenseman.

Lambert said there was no update on Pelech or Aho.

Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves and Anton Forsberg stopped 21 shots for the Senators (8-8-0). Drake Batherson opened the scoring for the Senators and brought them within 4-3 at 11:43 of the second period before Dobson’s shot deflected in off Simon Holmstrom at 5:18 of the third period.

Pelech left the ice at 2:23 of the first period after absorbing a hit from Batherson and appearing to hurt his left wrist. Aho was checked hard into the end boards by Rourke Chartier and hobbled to the bench at 3:07 before following Pelech to the Islanders’ room.

“Four guys in there and we have to step up and eat some minutes,” Pulock said. “I think our forwards did a really good job for us of playing simple. Kudos to everyone for stepping up and making it a little easier for us on the back end.”

“It’s not ideal,” Dobson said, adding that he couldn’t recall playing with just four defensemen in the NHL. “We did a good job of sticking with it. All of us rolled over [our shifts] and kept it short. A good effort from everyone.”

Notes & quotes: Palmieri and Oliver Wahlstrom each had a goal and an assist . . . Left wing Matt Martin (upper body) did not accompany the team to Ottawa and missed his fourth straight game . . . Brock Nelson’s first-period assist extended his point streak to five games.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

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.