The Anaheim Ducks (4-4-1) defeated the New York Islanders (3-4-2) 3-1 on Tuesday night in UBS Arena. The Ducks entered losers in four of their last five games, going 1-3-1 over that stretch. On average, they allowed a hair over three goals per game in those defeats.
The Islanders scored once, and it took 81 seconds of a 5-on-3. The last Islanders’ goal before Mat Barzal’s power play marker came over 90 minutes of hockey ago. Lukas Dostal denied 40/41 shots.
Leo Carlsson, Troy Terry, and Frank Vatrano scored the Anaheim goals. The Islanders’ locker room refused to admit frustration, except for Mat Barzal . He made it pretty clear his play hasn’t been anywhere near acceptable, especially at 5v5.
Kyle Palmieri and Bo Horvat preached patience and that they’re getting the looks. Horvat specifically said this team believes in itself and has shown the ability to fight through adversity since he’s been here. The damning part of this game is just how familiar it’s been.
Before tonight, the Islanders had been shut out in three of their first six games. They’d outplayed teams only to spit up goals against and hand free points away. The Islanders’ special teams have been a significant problem since the 2023 Carolina series .
The power play failed while the penalty kill stumbled and almost single-handedly eliminated the Islanders that year. The focus of that off-season seemed to be fixing the units. Instead, the Islanders returned and had an embarrassment on the penalty .