A visit to Ottawa might offer an ideal opportunity for the New York Islanders to continue their current surge.Looking to extend their winning streak to six games, the visiting Islanders also aim to stay hot against the Senators on Friday night.New York won just once over its first four games of the season, but has followed with a five-game winning streak. Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist, and Brock Nelson recorded two assists during Thursday's 4-2 home win over an equally hot Arizona Coyotes club."I thought it was a pretty complete game," Bailey told the Islanders' television broadcast. "I think all the way through the lineup we got contributions, and that's what it takes to win games consistently in this league." Bailey, who has four points over three games, has matched Nelson and Mathew Barzal for the team lead with four goals. Nelson, meanwhile, has four points in the last two games for the Islanders, whose longest win streak in 2018-19 was six in a row. Semyon Varlamov made 21 saves on Thursday, likely meaning Thomas Greiss will be in goal for the Islanders in this contest.Greiss, 3-1-0 with a 2.21 goals-against average this season, has won his last two starts against Ottawa despite posting a 3.49 goals-against average. New York, meanwhile, has totaled 18 non-shootout goals during a four-game winning streak over the Senators.A rebuilding club at the moment, Ottawa is looking for anything positive to take and build on. There was a good amount to do so from Wednesday's 5-2 victory home victory over Detroit.Anthony Duclair had two goals while Chris Tierney record one with an assist, and Anders Nilsson stopped 34 shots as the Senators snapped an 0-3-1 slide to improve to 2-6-1 on the young season. Both Ottawa victories have come at home."I think we just smothered (the Red Wings)," defenseman Mark Borowiecki told the Senators' official website. "That's the type of hockey we have to play to be successful, and we're going to slowly figure it out. If we can bring that kind of effort from everyone, every night, we're going to put ourselves in a good spot." One spot where the Senators need plenty of improvement is on a power play that's a horrid 1-for-27 this season. They're 2-for-8 during that 0-3-1 stretch against the Islanders. In fact, Ottawa has won just once -- Dec. 1, 2017 -- in its last seven games against New York.Nilsson, 1-2-1 with a 2.73 goals-against average this season, has started the last two games for Ottawa. However, the ex-Islanders goalie is 0-4-0 with a 5.08 goals-against average against his former team all time. Teammate Craig Anderson, who has a 3.26 goals-against average while losing four of his five starts this season, has yielded nine goals in his last two versus New York.Ottawa's Vladislav Namestnikov (seven points) has two goals with an assist in the last three games.Barzal has four goals and three assists this season for New York. He's recorded two goals with five assists during six career games against Ottawa.--Field Level Media
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