New York snaps 11-game winless streak vs. Senators

OTTAWA (AP) -- The New York Islanders gave themselves a little breathing room in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Mattias Weinhandl scored two goals and Garth Snow made 31 saves as the Islanders beat Ottawa 5-2 on Saturday night.

The Islanders moved five points ahead of Montreal for the final playoff spot in the East, and a snapped an 11-game winless streak against the Senators -- the NHL's top club.

"The team played with purpose. We had passion and I'm pretty happy with the way we played," Islanders coach Peter Laviolette said. "I think we played like a desperate hockey team."

Dave Scatchard, Roman Hamrlik and former Senator Alexei Yashin also scored for the Islanders. Bryan Smolinski and Marian Hossa scored for Ottawa.

"When you don't have your legs going 100 percent you've got to play smarter," Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson said. "I think we gave up too many chances and the power play didn't produce."

Scatchard opened the scoring at 11:46 of the first period, beating Martin Prusek with a shot high to the stick side.

Smolinski tied it less than two minutes later with his first goal for the Senators, beating Snow a shot from the side.

Ottawa then lost Prusek at 15:52 of the first period after he was kneed in the head by Mike Peca during a scramble in the crease. Prusek was slow to get up and had to be helped off the ice. He had allowed one goal on eight shots before being replaced by Patrick Lalime, who allowed four goals on 16 shots.

"If I could have avoided him I would have," Peca said. "It's too bad because he was playing extremely well. It's tough for any goalie to come in, but it was good we got a goal on Lalime early on."

Weinhandl scored his first of the night with under three minutes remaining in the first when Wade Redden failed to tie him up at the blue line, allowing the rookie to go in alone and beat Lalime with a low wrist shot.

Yashin, who was given his usual unfriendly welcome by Ottawa fans, put the Islanders up 3-1 with a power-play goal at 11:43 of the second.

"I'm glad I could contribute, but it's most important that we got the win," Yashin said. "We beat a great team here so I feel pretty good."

Less than a minute later, Weinhandl scored his second of the night, jumping on a loose puck in front of the net and beating Lalime.

Hamrlik made it 5-1 midway through the third, scoring a power-play goal on a shot from the point. Hossa scored his 41st goal of the season with 2:36 remaining in the game.

Coming into the game the Islanders, had just one win in their last 29 meetings with the Senators (1-21-7-0), the lone victory coming April 6, 2000.

"It seems like every time we come here we get in a hole early," Scatchard said. "I think we did a good job."

Game notes
Ottawa C Todd White returned to the lineup after missing two games with a hip flexor. ... Ottawa D Curtis Leschyshyn remains sidelined with an ankle injury, while Vaclav Varada missed his fifth straight game due to a knee injury. ... Chris Neil and Jason Spezza were healthy scratches for the Senators. New York's Justin Mapletoft and Radek Martinek also were healthy scratches.