from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun,

In the club’s final visit to the Nassau County Coliseum, Senators goaltender Andrew Hammond moved his record to 9-0-1 by shutting down John Tavares and the New York Islanders in a 2-1 victory Friday night.

On the strength of Hammond’s 34-save performance along with goals by Kyle Turris and Matt Puempel on Jaroslav Halak, the Senators moved their record 12-2-2 in their last 16 games and moved to within five points of the Boston Bruins for the final wildcard playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Nope, they won’t go away and they passed the Florida Panthers in the process.

Hammond is only the third goalie since 1938 to allow two or fewer goals in his first 10 NHL starts. He made a huge stop on Anders Lee in the dying minutes going to the net to help the club secure the two points.

read on