OTTAWA — For long stretches on Saturday afternoon, the Islanders flirted with disaster.

They looked discombobulated and disorganized in their own zone. They didn’t backcheck. Ilya Sorokin let in one terrible goal and three more that qualified as questionable. The Islanders trailed 2-0, then 3-2, then 4-3.

But when the final buzzer sounded to mark the end of a wild, back-and-forth afternoon, the Islanders had shown gumption and resilience to work through the pile of mess and emerge with a 5-4 win over the Senators following a third-period comeback punctuated by Anders Lee’s game-winner with 1:03 left in regulation.

“It’s like a Western movie,” Sorokin said. “Shot, shot, shot.

“I think it’s very interesting for our fans watching. Very stressful.”

New York Islanders left wing Anders Lee (27) celebrates his game winning goal after scoring on goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) during third period NHL action in Ottawa, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. AP

Stressful might not be a strong enough word. For the game’s first 40 minutes, the headline was shaping up to be Sorokin’s own struggles as he let up four goals for a fourth consecutive start.

At 2:23 into the third period, though, Sorokin helped reverse the momentum of the afternoon when he turned aside Shane Pinto’s penalty shot to keep it a 4-3 game.

New York Islanders left wing Anders Lee (27) stick handles the puck in front of Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa, Ontario, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. AP

“There’s moments in games where things can turn,” Lee said. “Pinto puts that in, it’s a tough hill to climb.”

Instead of staring at a 5-3 deficit, however, the Islanders tied it at four mere minutes after the penalty shot, when Mathew Barzal fed Kyle Palmieri on a breakaway.

Max Shabanov (not shown) scores against Linus Ullmark of the Ottawa Senators as his teammate Tyler Kleven battles with Anders Lee in the second period on October 18, 2025. NHLI via Getty Images

Bo Horvat of the New York Islanders celebrates his second-period goal against the Ottawa Senators with Anders Lee on October 18, 2025 at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. NHLI via Getty Images

Sorokin was, at least, noticeably better in the last 20 minutes, stopping a trio of in-tight shots around the halfway mark of the period and keeping Ottawa at four goals. That kept the door open for the Islanders, and finally, they took advantage at the 18:55 mark of the third.

That was when Lee wrestled the puck away from Jordan Spence, found himself in alone against Linus Ullmark and slid it past him to give the Islanders their first lead of the afternoon.

It was the only lead they would need, and the only one that mattered on a day that showed the Islanders, if nothing else, have plenty of gumption and little quit in them.

New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin (30) makes a save in the first period against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“I knew from when [the puck] came off [Jean-Gabriel Pageau] there, the way it was gonna come off the wall, if I could just get my body into [Spence] and get under him, I might have a chance to find the puck,” Lee said. “That’s as far as my thought process got until I got it. And then I had to figure it out from there.”

Still, below the headline, there was plenty to worry about.

Less than 48 hours after putting forth a complete effort to defeat the Oilers, the Islanders were a mess defensively, and despite his third period, Sorokin was far from inspiring in goal, where he stopped 29 of 33 shots.

How exactly to distribute blame between Sorokin and the pitiful performance in front of him, with the defense missing Alexander Romanov due to an upper-body injury, is a question that’s up for debate.

Dylan Cozens of the Ottawa Senators skates with the puck against Kyle Palmieri in the first period on October 18, 2025 at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. NHLI via Getty Images

But even with the Islanders playing terrible defense in transition, Sorokin gave up a trio of goals on Saturday with no traffic in front, and a fourth with minimal traffic — a bad sign for any goalie.

“I think both sides could go back and clean up a few things,” Lee said of the Islanders defensive effort. “It was one of those nights where trading rushes and trading opportunities. You don’t want to see that every night.”

On the ice from Long Island

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The Islanders looked to have pulled themselves back into it after going down 2-0 early in the second when Emil Heineman and Bo Horvat each scored within 1:18 to tie it back up.

By the second intermission, though, the Islanders had twice handed the lead back, with Tim Stützle scoring the 3-2 goal on a break where no one looked to be in the right spot and Dylan Cozens doing almost the exact same thing to make it 4-3 just 1:02 after Maxim Shabanov had tied it again.

That was after a first period in which Sorokin had allowed David Perron’s short-side look on the power play to trickle through his legs, and in which the Islanders had failed to even record a shot on a five-on-three power play that lasted 1:29.

“Turnovers cost us,” Roy said. “We made some bad decisions, almost, at times when there were odd-man rushes we could have played a little different.

“But we found a way to win.”