Photo via New York Post

Islanders can’t overcome uphill battle in shootout loss to Senators

Read the original at New York Post ↗
Cite

Sears, E. (2026, October 16). Islanders can’t overcome uphill battle in shootout loss to Senators. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/15/sports/islanders-cant-overcome-uphill-battle-in-shootout-loss-to-senators/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-16 · by Ethan Sears

Quick Summary

On Thursday night, the Islanders played against the Senators and lost 2-1 in a shootout despite strong goaltending from Semyon Varlamov. The game was marked by missed opportunities for the Islanders, who struggled to sustain offensive momentum throughout. Despite taking three penalties in the second period, their penalty kill remained flawless thanks largely to Varlamov’s performance. The Islanders made lineup changes but still failed to capitalize on scoring chances, leaving them with only one point from the game.
Written by AI on 2026-10-16, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On Thursday night, Shane Pinto scored the decisive shootout goal, lifting the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders. The game was tied at 1 after regulation and overtime when Greig equalized for Ottawa late in the second period following a turnover by Maccelli that led to Pinto's steal and Greig's goal. Varlamov stopped 18 shots, but it wasn't enough as Ullmark made crucial saves throughout, finishing with 20 stops and leading his team to their sixth win of the season. The Islanders had multiple opportunities in overtime, including a penalty shot that missed the mark, ultimately falling short despite strong goaltending.

Written for “Senators Vs Islanders Game Summary” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Senators Vs Islanders Game Summary
Sports · 4 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 5% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Global News
Hedges 2 of 20 claims Outlet record 63/100
Toronto Star
Hedges 2 of 20 claims Outlet record 64/100
Toronto Star
Hedges 0 of 31 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different games involving the Ottawa Senators and opposing teams on different dates.”
Global News
Hedges 2 of 30 claims Outlet record 63/100
“The articles describe different hockey games involving the Ottawa Senators on separate dates.”
Toronto Star
Hedges 2 of 30 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different games involving the Ottawa Senators, with Article A referring to a game against the Nashville Predators and Article B describing a loss to the New York Islanders.”
Toronto Star
Hedges 1 of 23 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different games involving the Ottawa Senators, with one against the Nashville Predators and another against the New York Islanders on separate dates.”
Toronto Star
Hedges 0 of 13 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different games between the Ottawa Senators and opposing teams (New Jersey Devils vs. New York Islanders) on separate dates.”
Toronto Star
Hedges 1 of 37 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different games involving the Ottawa Senators against the St. Louis Blues and New York Islanders on separate dates.”
Toronto Star
Hedges 0 of 30 claims Outlet record 64/100
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 5 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different aspects of the Islanders' performance and a broader analysis rather than focusing on one single game incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
5%
1 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-16 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 15868 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Ethan Sears
66 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 And now the Islanders will hold their breath, hoping there is no hearing and subsequent suspension for Emil Heineman following his knee-on-knee hit to Isaac Howard that got him kicked out of Saturday’s match just 2:22 into the proceedings.
🔮 The Islanders were on their heels late in regulation, requiring a few scrambling defensive shifts to get the game to overtime, but they would eventually earn the extra point.
🔮 And second, while it might be true that three goals gives you a good chance every night, it leaves little margin for error.
🔮 To the extent there’s a worry, it’s less about the here and now and more that the mileage Schaefer accumulates as a teenager could affect him in the future.
🔮 The suggestion that Scott Mayfield may soon ask for a trade was shot down earlier this week by Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche.
🔮 DALLAS — The day before a game in which he’s set to be the main character, Islanders head coach Pete DeBoer was typically understated regarding his own return here.
🔮 Since the Islanders’ 3-2 defeat to the Kings in overtime was Eklund’s 10th game with the club this year, the Swede — who scored a power play goal in the loss— will officially burn a year of his entry-level contract.
🔮 Artemi Panarin pondered the question of whether it would feel like a homecoming of sorts to play on Long Island, and in the moment, he never really answered it.
🔮 The last scene similar to that, which greeted Brady Tkachuk in his return to the Canadian Tire Center following an unhappy divorce with the Senators, might be as far back as eight seasons ago when John Tavares was greeted with sheer hostility by the crowd at Nassau Coliseum on Feb. 28, 2019.
🔮 Do all of that and the players who are missing from the lineup will not be so front of mind.
Also by Ethan Sears
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 66 articles by Ethan Sears →

Topics

Islanders OTTAWA Senators

Subjects

Islanders ORG · 11× OTTAWA GPE · 5× Varlamov PERSON · 5× Senators ORG · 2× Linus Ullmark PERSON · 1× Ridly Greig’s PERSON · 1× Semyon Varlamov PERSON · 1× Shane Pinto’s PERSON · 1× Stephen Halliday PERSON · 1× Warren Foegele PERSON · 1×

Narrative

They hung on for life through chunks of a second period in which they took three penalties and the game got dangerously open, with Ridly Greig’s finish from Warren Foegele — left completely unmarked to receive Artem Zub’s stretch pass at the Islanders’ blue line — the only damage.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-16
🔮 OTTAWA — It looked for a while on Thursday night like the Islanders’ structure might overcome their sloppiness.
2026-10-16 · New York Post
Islanders can’t overcome uphill battle in shootout loss to Senators · assertive framing

Claims (20 extracted, 1 hedged)

OTTAWA — It looked for a while on Thursday night like the Islanders’ structure might overcome their sloppiness. uncertain
structure → look → sloppiness
On a night when they never seemed to sustain any offensive momentum, though, that was an uphill climb. asserted
that → seem → momentum
The Islanders took the Senators down to the wire but didn’t make Linus Ullmark work hard enough that it seemed like two points were in the cards. asserted
points → take → cards
Instead, Shane Pinto’s shootout goal was decisive, and the Islanders left Ottawa with a 2-1 loss. asserted
Islanders → leave → loss
The shame of it is that Semyon Varlamov — after two would-be Senators goals in the first period were called back for not crossing the line and for offside — very much did play well enough to earn his first win after returning from two partial knee replacements. asserted
goals → call → replacements
In his second start of the season, Varlamov looked markedly better than in his first, gaining more command of his crease as the night went on and making a terrific reaction save on Stephen Halliday in the second period. asserted
night → look → period
This, though, was one of those nights when the Islanders were doing things right, but pucks seemed to find a way of bouncing off their sticks. asserted
pucks → do → sticks
They hung on for life through chunks of a second period in which they took three penalties and the game got dangerously open, with Ridly Greig’s finish from Warren Foegele — left completely unmarked to receive Artem Zub’s stretch pass at the Islanders’ blue line — the only damage. asserted
finish → hang → damage
Again, that was thanks in no small part to Varlamov, who made sure the Islanders’ penalty kill was flawless despite struggling to disrupt Ottawa’s puck movement. asserted
kill → make → movement
Given the gift of a 1-1 score entering the last 20 minutes, the Islanders had every chance to walk out of Canadian Tire Centre with at least a point. asserted
Islanders → give → point
Pete DeBoer made a series of changes to his forward lines to try and ensure it. asserted
DeBoer → make → it
Cal Ritchie and Anthony Duclair, both struggling, were dropped to the fourth line, while Simon Holmstrom was moved up to the third and Emil Heineman to the second, where Brayden Schenn shifted to center. asserted
Schenn → struggle → center
That did have the effect of reinforcing the Islanders’ structure, and the third period was a good display of physical, tight-checking hockey by both teams. asserted
period → have → teams
It was enough to get the Islanders a point, but they couldn’t end it there — even after getting a four-on-three power play that immediately followed a successful penalty kill. asserted
that → get → kill
The Islanders went 0-for in the ensuing shootout and were left to rue their missed opportunities. asserted
Islanders → go → opportunities
Matias Maccelli was a bright spot along with Varlamov, opening the scoring with 12 seconds left in the first by picking Pinto’s pocket at the blue line and burying it. asserted
Maccelli → open → it
The third line of Duclair, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Ondrej Palat, though, was the only forward trio that consistently generated looks, and the Islanders struggled all night to break the puck out against Ottawa’s forecheck. asserted
Islanders → generate → forecheck
It was mainly thanks to instant replay — and a good challenge by coach DeBoer on Halliday’s would-be goal — that Ottawa didn’t grab an early lead. asserted
Ottawa → grab → lead
Both overturned goals beat Varlamov short-side, a potentially worrisome trend given it’s not the first time his reaction time has looked susceptible since returning. asserted
time → overturn → trend
By the end of the night, though, Varlamov had quelled any worries about his play. asserted
Varlamov → quell → play
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support