NY Islanders continue north of the border road trip Thursday night in Ottawa

The New York Islanders continue their road trip Thursday night against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre, looking to build on recent momentum as the playoff race tightens.

New York (39-24-5) is coming off a 3-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, its fourth victory in the past five games. Brayden Schenn, Cal Ritchie and Emil Heineman scored, and Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves.

Sorokin earned his 150th career NHL win in the victory. The goaltender ranks third in franchise history in wins and is seven shy of tying Chico Resch for second. The 30-year-old is 25-15-2 this season with a 2.49 goals-against average, a .914 save percentage and six shutouts.

Heineman has provided a scoring boost, with four goals in his past six games. The forward has 19 goals this season and is one away from his first 20-goal campaign.

The Isles' power play has also shown improvement. The Islanders have four power-play goals in their past four games and are operating at 28.6 percent since March 10 after converting twice against Toronto. The Islanders enter Thursday with 83 points, one behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for second place in the Metropolitan Division. The Columbus Blue Jackets trail by two points with a game in hand.

Ottawa (77 points) remains in contention for a wild-card spot despite a 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals in its last outing. Tim Stützle leads the Senators with 71 points, and Drake Batherson has eight goals in his past nine games.

The Islanders defeated Ottawa 5-4 in their previous meeting on Oct. 18.

Both teams enter the matchup needing points as the regular season winds down.