Senators Streak Past Islanders

The Ottawa Senators still have the New York Islanders' number.

Alexei Yashin had a goal and two assists as the Senators beat the Islanders 4-1 Thursday night, extending their unbeaten streak against New York to 11 games.

"They've definitely got our number, they played their system to a T," said Islanders captain Trevor Linden. "We'll have to turn that around by the end of the year."

Ottawa is 8-0-3 against the Islanders dating back to January 1996. The Senators won their fourth consecutive at the Corel Centre, tying the franchise record for consecutive home victories. The Senators are unbeaten in their five games overall and are 7-3-3 in their last 13.

Vaclav Prospal and Lance Pitlick also scored and Shaun Van Allen had an empty-net goal for the Senators, who are unbeaten in five games and 7-3-3 in their last 13. Shawn McEachern added three assists.

"We have to stay focused on our game," Yashin said. "We don't have to change anything. We're a very patient team and every line got a lot of chances."

Scott Lachance scored the only goal for the Islanders, spoiling goaltender Damian Rhodes's shutout bid on a power play with 6:09 left in the game. Rhodes made 27 saves and has lost only one of his last six starts, allowing just nine goals in that span.

"We're a very disciplined team," Rhodes said. "We have a lot of 22- and 23-year-olds, and you have to give them a lot of credit."

Islanders goaltender Wade Flaherty made 29 saves in only his second start and fourth appearance of the season as Tommy Salo's backup.

"We were on our heels, flat," Islanders coach Mike Milbury said. "It wasn't a good game for us. Wade Flaherty was solid in goal. I felt bad h didn't have better support."

Yashin scored his fourth goal in the last four games on his own rebound with 1:14 left in the first period to open the scoring. Yashin has six goals for the season.

"A lot of things went wrong," Flaherty said. "When we did get our shots, Rhodes stood tall."

Prospal scored with 1:42 left in the second period when a point shot by defenseman Sami Salo bounced straight to him for an open shot. Pitlick made it 3-0 1:23 into the third period, firing into an empty net as Flaherty scrambled to recover.

New York entered the game owning the NHL's third-strongest power play, but only got to use it once, converting on Lachance's goal.

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