The wins just keep on rolling in for the Islanders.
With Tuesday night's 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators at Barclays Center, the team has now won an improbable 10 games in a row, the second-longest winning streak in team history. The only better mark in the history of the franchise came in 1981-82, when the team won 15 straight en route to their third straight Stanley Cup championship.
"It was a difficult game. Ottawa's playing good hockey right now," said head coach Barry Trotz. "They made us earn everything. ... We just stayed with what we do."
The Senators got on the board first on Tuesday, as Jean-Gabriel Pageau beat Thomas Greiss in the first period to put Ottawa up 1-0. Less than a minute later, though, the Islanders answered right back, as Cal Clutterbuck notched his first goal of the year to tie the game.
Then, after more than 15 minutes of scoreless play in the second period, Cole Bardreau drew a penalty shot. The 26-year old beat Sens goalie Craig Anderson through the five-hole, with Anderson getting a piece of the shot but not enough, giving the Islanders a 2-1 lead.
"You know the guys have been giving it to me for missing all of my breakaways, but to do it in that fashion, I don't know, I just can't stop smiling," Bardreau told reporters after the game.
"I'm not going to lie, I was pretty nervous there looking up. I just gripped it and ripped it and luckily it went in."
In the third period, the Islanders put the game away with two goals in 40 seconds, as Casey Cizikas and Josh Bailey both lit the lamp to send the Barclays Center crowd into a frenzy.
With the win, the Islanders improved to 11-3-0. Their 22 points ranks them second in the Metropolitan Division, behind only the Washington Capitals.
"It's tough to do, especially in the league today, the way it is," Clutterbuck told reporters after the game about the streak. "There is no easy night."