N.Y. snaps home losing streak to Ottawa

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- Alexei Yashin is the only Islanders player who was around the last time the Ottawa Senators lost at Nassau Coliseum.

And that night, he was on the visiting team.

Yashin scored late in the third period Monday night to secure New York's 6-3 victory, the Islanders' first at home against the Senators in nearly eight years.

"What's most important is we got two points," said Yashin, Ottawa's career leader with 218 goals.

Jason Wiemer, Mariusz Czerkawski and Oleg Kvasha scored in the second period, and Trent Hunter and Shawn Bates added goals for the Islanders, who hadn't defeated the Senators at home since Jan. 6, 1996.

"In the past they had the edge on us," Czerkawski said. "We had to prove it that that was not the case now."

Ottawa was 13-0-4 on Long Island since, including two wins during a five-game playoff victory last season en route to the Eastern Conference finals. The Senators are 25-4-7 against the Islanders since their previous Long Island loss.

"Sure it's a nice thing to get off our backs, but that's not why we're here," defenseman Adrian Aucoin said.

Rick DiPietro made 29 saves for New York, 5-1 at home this season.

"That's one of the teams we're gunning for," Aucoin said. "We can still get better."

Peter Schaefer, Zdeno Chara, and Daniel Alfredsson scored for Ottawa, which got 20 saves from a sometimes shaky Patrick Lalime.

Czerkawski made it 2-1 with his ninth goal, scored 55 seconds into the second. New York had a three-on-two rush, and Kvasha made a backhanded pass to the trailing Czerkawski for the goal.

Lalime then was beaten by Wiemer's drive, shot while the forward was still on the big Islanders logo. It hit Lalime and skipped by to give New York a 3-1 lead at 7:05.

A frustrated Lalime went for a long skate over to the boards as the Islanders celebrated with high-fives on the bench.

"There were a few bad goals. I didn't do it purpose," Lalime said. "It wasn't one of my best nights, that's for sure. I've got to bounce back."

Chara brought Ottawa back within a goal 2:11 later when he stole the puck and beat DiPietro from the right circle.

But the Islanders needed just 1:18 to make it 4-2.

Kvasha stole the puck behind the Senators' net, curled in front and forced a shot in at 10:34.

Yashin made it 5-3 with a power-play goal with 4:02 left, and Bates punctuated the win by scoring into an empty net as the final horn sounded.

"It was a great challenge and the team responded well," Yashin said. "When we were up 4-2 and they scored, we didn't panic. We stayed with the game plan."

Ottawa couldn't dent the Islanders' power play in six chances. New York has killed 54 of 58 penalties this season and ranks first in the NHL.

But the Senators drew to 4-3 with 1:49 left in the second period, 33 seconds after Islanders captain Michael Peca left the penalty box.

Alfredsson scored on a shot from between the circles, through a maze of players and past DiPietro. Alfredsson, already the Senators' career leader in points, raised his total to 500.

Radek Bonk, who had at least one point in Ottawa's first nine games, was scoreless.

Alfredsson and Bonk also played in Ottawa's last Long Island loss.

"This was probably the worst ice I've ever seen in this building," Alfredsson said. "The puck was bouncing all the time.

"Before we haven't beaten ourselves like we did tonight. This is the kind of game you have to forget."

Schaefer gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 7:50 of the first. Hunter tied it with 1:02 left in the period with his fourth goal in four games.

Game notes
Islanders RW Arron Asham didn't play because of a neck strain. He is day-to-day. ... Alfredsson is first in Senators' history with 562 games played and 306 assists. His 194 goals rank second. ... Islanders C Jason Blake was knocked out with a sprained right knee in the first period. ... Ottawa wasn't whistled for a penalty until Martin Havlat went off 5:58 into the third.