Senators 3, Islanders 1

Travis Hamonic scored in the third period, and the Islanders outshot the Senators 38-26, but lost 3-1 to Ottawa Tuesday at Scotiabank Place.

The loss drops the Islanders to 6-9-1. After the game, Head Coach Jack Capuano said his team battled well enough to be in the game, but ran into a hot goaltender in Craig Anderson, who made 37 saves.

“I thought we had some good chances tonight,” Capuano said. “Our guys played hard. We had some looks. We’ve just got to bear down a little bit more. But give Anderson credit. He played well.”

Trailing 2-0 heading into the third period, the Islanders brought the game within one on Hamonic’s second goal of the season. The line of Marty Reasoner, Kyle Okposo and Michael Grabner sustained pressure in the Ottawa zone, with Okposo fighting for a loose puck in the corner and finding Reasoner in the slot. Reasoner’s behind-the-back pass set up Hamonic at 2:44.

The Islanders outshot the Senators 13-9 in the final frame but could not make up the difference. Dave Dziurzynski’s first NHL goal with two-and-a-half minutes remaining sealed the deal for Ottawa. Zack Smith’s initial shot on goal flopped out of the glove of Rick DiPietro, who was starting his third game of the season. The netminder was unable to clear the puck to the corner, and Dziurzynski re-established the Senators two-goal lead.

DiPietro said that despite the frustrating defeat, the team battled to stay in the game until the end.

“It was encouraging to see guys play hard,” DiPietro said. “We played well. There’s definitely some positives to take out of here. But at this point, you need points and you need results. We have a couple more games on the road to get the wins that we’re looking for.”

After a scoreless first period, the Senators took a 1-0 lead 24 seconds into a power play on Colin Greening’s second goal of the season. Ottawa applied pressure down low, and the Islanders penalty killers were unable to clear a rebound in front of Rick DiPietro. Stephane Da Costa and Daniel Alfredsson earned the assists at 6:01.

Two minutes later, Andre Benoit’s first NHL goal made it 2-0. Jakob Silfverberg passed the puck to the right point, where Benoit blasted a slap shot through a screen and in.

The Islanders continue their three-game road trip Thursday when they take on the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre 7:30 p.m.

Notes: Matt Moulson played in his 262nd consecutive game, tying Denis Potvin for the third-longest consecutive games streak in franchise history ... The Islanders went 0-for-4 on the power play, and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill … Mark Streit led all skaters with 25:45 of ice time … Travis Hamonic registered a game-high six shots on goal … The Islanders won the faceoff battle for the third straight game, 26-24, led by Marty Reasoner (7-for-11, 64%) … Rick DiPietro was pulled with 1:50 remaining in the third period for an extra attacker.

New York Islanders
Forwards
26 Matt Moulson – 91 John Tavares – 24 Brad Boyes
12 Josh Bailey – 51 Frans Nielsen – 10 Keith Aucoin
40 Michael Grabner – 16 Marty Reasoner – 21 Kyle Okposo
17 Matt Martin – 53 Casey Cizikas – 13 Colin McDonald

Defensemen
47 Andrew MacDonald – 3 Travis Hamonic
52 Joe Finley – 2 Mark Streit
14 Thomas Hickey – 11 Lubomir Visnovsky

Goaltenders
39 Rick DiPietro
20 Evgeni Nabokov

Ottawa Senators
Forwards
33 Jakob Silfverberg – 7 Kyle Turris – 11 Daniel Alfredsson
14 Colin Greening – 24 Stephane Da Costa – 22 Erik Condra
59 Dave Dziurzynski - 15 Zack Smith – 25 Chris Neil
23 Kaspars Daugavins – 57 Derek Grant – 93 Mika Zibanejad

Defensemen
3 Marc Methot – 62 Eric Gryba
46 Patrick Wiercioch – 55 Sergei Gonchar
61 Andre Benoit – 4 Chris Phillips

Goaltenders
41 Craig Anderson
30 Ben Bishop