Copyright Getty Images/By Paul J. Bereswill

The Islanders shootout aces gave them a much needed two points over the Senators at Nassau Coliseum. Frans Nielsen and John Tavares each beat Robin Lehner to end a three-game losing streak (0-2-1). It improved the Isles to 9-11-2, tying the Rangers in points (20). They host Buffalo later.

A bit of bad luck allowed Ottawa to tie it. After Michael Grabner had put the Islanders ahead, Kyle Okposo was called for an iffy tripping minor. Senator rookie defense Patrick Wiercioch took advantage by scoring his first NHL goal with 1:09 left in regulation.

The Islanders controlled most of the overtime. Only some huge stops from Lehner took it to the skill competition. He got a piece of Hamonic’s high labeler and stoned Tavares at the door step with a reflex pad save. In his second consecutive start, he made 33 saves. Ironically, the Sens’ last game went past regulation in an overtime loss to the Bruins. They continue to earn points despite being depleted. A credit to coach Paul MacLean.

A Brad Boyes goal in the first period had the Islanders up 1-0. His fifth of 2013 halted an eight-game goal drought. Matt Moulson and Mark Streit tallied assists. Boyes has 16 points (5-11-16) thus far, which rank him third in team scoring behind Tavares (25) and Moulson (24). Streit is fourth with a dozen and Grabner (8-3-11) fifth.

According to Islander coach Jack Capuano, Tavares is banged up. He estimated that his best player is about 70 percent before faceoff. They can’t be successful without him. Tavares didn’t register a point for the fourth straight game. His ice-time reflected an injury with Capuano giving JT91 19:09 in 25 shifts. He rolled all four lines. A 70 percent Tavares is still better than most. He nearly won it in OT during a dominant shift.

The Sens drew even in the second thanks to Mike Zibanejad. The first-year center got to a loose puck in the slot and beat Evgeni Nabokov. It was his third marker in the last six. Chris Neil got the lone helper.

Both clubs had opportunities to go ahead on the power play. However, each netminder stood tall. A slick move by Capuano allowed the Islanders to steer back in front. With his team on the attack, he sent a fresh Grabner out for a line change. It paid immediate dividends when Grabner got to a loose puck and buried his eighth past Lehner for a 2-1 lead with 3:29 remaining. It was his second goal in five.

It looked like they would hang on until Okposo was sent to the box for a trip. Moments earlier, he broke in on Lehner but was unable to get off a shot. He tried to finish a check and accidentally tripped Erik Condra. MacLean didn’t pull Lehner for a six-on-four. Instead, his strategy worked when Wiercioch one-timed a Kyle Turris feed off Hamonic’s stick past Nabokov. A bad break that forced the game to extras.

Following Lehner stops on Hamonic and Tavares, the Islanders did get one more chance to win it with four seconds to go in OT. On a four-on-three power play, Tavares drew the puck back to Streit, whose two attempts were blocked taking it to a shootout. In Round One, Nielsen went five-hole on Lehner while Nabokov made a glove save on Jakob Silfverberg. In the second round, Boyes missed upstairs and Nabokov got across to deny Senator captain Daniel Alfredsson. That set it up for Tavares. He clinched it with a highlight reel goal, pulling off a Peter Forsberg tuck job.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Michael Grabner, NYI (8th of season, 3 SOG, +1 in 13:11)
2nd Star-Robin Lehner, Ott (33 saves)
1st Star-Evgeni Nabokov, NYI (29 saves)