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 They won't have any trouble finding the replays.
Berube's highlight-reel-worthy saves early in the first period
helped spark the struggling Islanders, who scored three
second-period goals on their way to a 3-1 win over the Ottawa
Senators at Barclays Center.
The wild-card-leading Islanders (39-24-9) snapped a four-game losing
streak and moved four points ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers and
Detroit Red Wings, who are tied for the final wild card.
"We were hungry," Berube said after making 22 saves to earn
first-star honors, along with his second NHL win. "I think we played
with a little bit of desperation out there. We're in a little bit of
a slump, but we trust the group we have in here."
The Islanders' trust in Berube -- a third-string goalie thrust into
semi-regular duty with starting goalie Jaroslav Halak out
indefinitely with a lower body injury -- was enhanced by his
spectacular effort a little less than six minutes into the first
period.
New York had already gone 0-for-2 on the power play when Senators
center Jean-Gabriel Pageau bolted away from the Islanders' Nick
Leddy and Frans Nielsen and took a pass from teammate Mark Stone.
 Pageau's shot was deflected by Berube, whose momentum carried him to
the right of the cage. Nielsen tried to clear the puck and missed
before Stone swooped in and backhanded a shot toward the empty net
as Johnny Boychuk lunged at him with his stick.
But Berube saw Stone out of the corner of his eye, sprawled to his
left and used his glove to push the puck out of the goalmouth.
"To be honest, I think it was going wide there," said Berube, though
replays indicated the puck was about to sail into the back of the
net. "I was just tracking the puck as good as I could. I saw it
coming my way and kind of made a little bit of a desperation save
there."
He had a better view than the players in front of him.
"I didn't really see it," Boychuk said of the save. "I was on the
other side."
"I didn't see it, I lost the puck," Nielsen said before laughing.
"It looked like a good save."
It was good enough for the NHL to post the video of it on its
Twitter feed less than an hour later.
"I didn't really get a great view of it," Islanders head coach Jack
Capuano said, "The visual I got was a big save. Could have been the
turning point of the game."
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The game remained scoreless until John Tavares put back a shot by
Josh Bailey 5:24 into the second period to give the Islanders their
first lead in five games. Matt Martin and Brock Nelson scored 21
seconds apart later in the second for New York, which scored just
three goals in the preceding 10 periods.
"Any time you get a big save like that, it lifts your guys up, lets
you know the guy between the pipes came to play tonight and we've
got to battle tonight," Capuano said.
Stone ended the shutout 6:21 into the third but the Senators never
seriously threatened again.
"You got the feeling as the second period went on that whoever got
the first one was going to have a real advantage," Senators head
coach Dave Cameron said. "Give them credit, they got it."
Goalie Andrew Hammond made 20 saves for the Senators (34-33-8), who
lost for the second time in as many nights and fell to 3-5-1 in
their last nine games. Ottawa is seven points behind the Flyers and
Red Wings, but has fewer games remaining (seven) than any Eastern
Conference contender.
"In a back-to-back game, getting an early goal would have been
huge," Cameron said.
NOTES: A moment of silence was held prior to the game for the
victims of Tuesday's terrorist attacks in Brussels. ... The
Islanders scratched C Mikhail Grabovski (undisclosed), G Jaroslav
Halak (lower body) and D Marek Zidlicky (upper body) as well as RW
Steve Bernier, LW Eric Boulton and D Brian Strait. ... The Islanders
signed G Eamon McAdam to a three-year entry-level contract on
Wednesday. McAdam was selected by the Islanders in the third round
of the 2012 draft and just completed a three-year career at Penn
State. ... The Senators scratched D Mark Borowiecki (knee), RW Chris
Neil (flu), D Dion Phaneuf (lower body), C Kyle Turris (ankle) and D
Patrick Wiercioch (upper body). ... To replace Phaneuf, who did not
travel to New York after being injured Tuesday against the
Washington Capitals, the Senators recalled D Fredrik Claesson from
Binghamton of the AHL.
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