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It was a game the Ottawa Senators should have won, the kind of game they need to win.

Facing a team that was missing its best forward – Mathew Barzal – as well as three defensemen – Adam Pelech, Alexander Romanov and Mike Reilly – the Senators lost 4-2 to the New York Islanders on Thursday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.

Yeah, it hurts.

The loss will be painful – it is for everyone – but it could have been even more disastrous for the Senators, who entered the game with a 5-1-0 record at home.

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“I didn’t think we were good enough going into the game,” Senators coach Travis Green said. “Our execution was bad, some of our decisions with the puck weren’t good enough. When we understood this, our game resumed. We made mistakes on a few goals that we would like to recover.

The story could very well have been the puck that hit Tim Stutzle in the face, cutting him above the right eye with just over eight minutes left in the first period. It was a shot from Josh Norris that deflected off the stick of Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock. Stutzle didn’t play the rest of the period, but returned early in the second and had two assists (he’s now up to 19 points, with six goals and 13 assists this season).

“Luckily, he’s OK,” Senators captain Brady Tkachuk said. “It could have been much worse. He fought to the end; it shows the kind of person and player he is.

The Islanders scored the first goal of the game with 4:11 left in the first period when Anders Lee knocked away a pass from Bo Horvat behind the net.

The score was 2-0 with 1:38 left in the period when Jean-Gabriel Pageau (remember him?) got behind Jake Sanderson and beat Ottawa goaltender Anton Forsberg.

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The Islanders made it 3-0 2:41 into the third period. The scoring opportunity was created when a pass from Forsberg behind the net was intercepted. Oliver Wahlstrom scored his first goal of the season.

The Senators finally broke Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov at 7:43 of the third period when Nick Jensen approached the point and found the net with his wrist shot. It was Jensen’s first goal as senator.

A power play goal by Drake Batherson, who went from backhand to forehand to put the puck into the net, made it 3-2 with 5:33 to play.

Horvat’s empty-net goal with 10 seconds remaining put an end to the Senators.

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THE GOALKEEPER’S QUESTION

The Senators decided to sign backup goaltender Anton Forsberg on Thursday. On the one hand, there’s an argument to be made for Forsberg, 31, who had shutouts in two of his previous three games (wins over Utah and Seattle). On the other hand, the Senators need plenty of playing time from Linus Ullmark, who signed a four-year, $33 million contract extension last month. Ullmark wasn’t particularly stellar in Ottawa’s 5-1 loss to Buffalo on Tuesday. But the Senators need to find him representatives for the games. he’s not going to make sure it stays on the bench. The senators will say that this is part of their plan, but, of course, they are not very open about what that plan is. It’s hard to blame Forsberg for what happened Thursday, even if he gave the puck behind his net on the third goal. It’s hard to imagine that the Senators won’t face Ullmark on Saturday in Boston.

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PAGEAU, PAGEAU, PAGEAU … PAGEAU, PAGEAU

A banner honoring Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau was raised at the Sabourin Arena in Gatineau. The Hull Minor Hockey Association paid tribute to Pageau, who played for the Senators from 2012 to 2020, on Wednesday. Pageau was very popular during his time playing for the Senators. Before that, Pageau had played 175 games with the Gatineau Olympics and the Chicoutimi Saguenéens, collecting 175 points. And, of course, Pageau scored Thursday and was plus-2 on his team’s top line.

THE ADDITIONAL PERIOD

The Senators faced some criticism when they removed defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker from the lineup with the return of Artem Zub. There seemed to be a lot to build up to with Travis Hamonic keeping his spot in the lineup, dropping back to the third pairing with Tyler Kleven… Amid a pile of bodies in his bullpen near the middle of the third period, he looked like Isles goaltender Semyon Varlamov landed a shot or two with his glove… Fans heard the “ref, you suck” chant. You ask yourself, is there a chant if the referees are actually doing a good job? …If the Senators want to get better at drawing penalties, maybe they need some ‘playing’ lessons… After being thrown to the boards late in the game, winger Claude Giroux was pulled by the concussion monitor .

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