Islanders ride fast start to defeat Ducks, extend point streak to four
Score three in first period, hand Anaheim fourth straight loss
By Stefen Rosner
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
ELMONT, N.Y. -- The New York Islanders scored three first-period goals in a span of 5:05 and held off the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 at UBS Arena on Tuesday.
Ondrej Palat, Victor Eklund and Simon Holmstrom scored, and Matthew Schaefer had his eighth assist in nine games for the Islanders (5-3-1), who extended their point streak to four games (3-0-1). Ilya Sorokin made 15 saves.
“The last two games probably are our most complete 60-minute games,” said New York coach Pete DeBoer, whose team was coming off a 4-1 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. “I thought tonight, other than sticking the puck in the net, we probably couldn't have done much more. We did let them hang around because of our lack of finish. That was the only issue I had with the game.
“Some great efforts from some guys. (Mitchell) Chaffee obviously with the scrap and that fourth line, some depth scoring. I thought the power play looked great, even though we only got one. We deserve more."
Frank Vatrano and Alex Killorn scored for the Ducks (4-5-1), who have dropped four straight and lost 5-2 at the New York Rangers on Monday. Lukas Dostal made 22 saves.
“I think you take positives out of the game but at the end of the day, you’ve got to win a hockey game,” Vatrano said. “It was a great effort by the guys but we’ve got to find a way to get two points. Obviously, it’s tough when you start from behind. This is a league where you’ve got to play with a lead and learn how to play with it. I think that’s where we need to start, getting off to better starts.”
Palat gave New York a 1-0 lead at 13:39. After Sorokin got his glove on a Cutter Gauthier wrist shot from the top of the slot, Anthony Duclair fed Jean-Gabriel Pageau off the rush for the Islanders. Pageau then found Palat cutting to the slot alone before Palat beat Dostal high glove side from the inside edge of the left face-off circle.
“That’s usually a trend that happens quite often,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said of such end-to-end momentum swings. “Especially early in games, that can be the difference, but over the course of the whole game, you’ve got to keep fighting away. That guy is a good goalie. At the same time, we almost tied it there at the end. It would have been nice to see that go in.”
Eklund extended the lead to 2-0 at 16:28 when he backhanded the rebound of his own tip attempt with Dostal out of his net.
“Yeah, it’s nice to score,” Eklund said. “I just wanted to get the screen. But the puck ended up being right in front of me. So, I just tucked the puck in. … I’m always trying to get to the front, get in the heat of the battle, and it worked out that time. Maybe I should go to the net more.”
Vatrano cut the deficit to 2-1 at 17:18. A.J. Greer found him all alone at the top of the crease, and Vatrano deked to his backhand before beating Sorokin over the glove.
Holmstrom made it 3-1 on the power play at 18:44, deflecting a Schaefer point shot.
Islanders forward Brayden Schenn hit the right post on the power play at 19:00 of the second period.
With Dostal on the bench for the extra attacker, Killorn one-timed a Leo Carlsson pass at the left hash marks at 17:20 of the third period for the 3-2 final.
“Since the beginning of the camp, Pete has been pushing us so we can play in the system,” Palat said. “We practiced it a lot, even when we had a short training camp. We worked on the structure every practice. There's still room for improvement. But I thought we're doing a good job early. We’re just following the system, playing all four lines, playing great, reloading, playing hard and being hard to play against. Yeah, that's how we're going to win.”
NOTES: Schaefer, 19, became the fifth teenage defenseman in NHL history with a season-opening home point streak of at least five games. He joined Zach Werenski (eight games in 2016-17 at age 19), Paul Reinhart (eight games in 1979-80 at age 19), Drew Doughty (five games in 2009-10 at age 19) and Brad Stuart (five games in 1999-00 at age 19). ... Chaffee played 9:13 in his Islanders debut. The forward signed a one-year contract with New York on July 1.
