Three goals in the opening period lifted the New York Islanders to a 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks at UBS Arena on Tuesday. Simon Holmstrom, Ondrej Palat and Victor Eklund provided all the offense New York needed during a five-minute burst late in the first frame.
Palat started the scoring at 13:39 of the first period, beating Lukas Dostal with a wrist shot off assists from Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anthony Duclair. Less than three minutes later, Eklund doubled the advantage to 2-0 with a backhand goal set up by Emil Heineman and Matthew Kessel at 16:28.
Anaheim countered just 50 seconds later when Frank Vatrano solved Ilya Sorokin with a backhander at 17:18, assisted by A.J. Greer and Leo Carlsson. The Islanders struck right back on the man advantage at 18:44, as Holmstrom tipped in a shot from Matthew Schaefer and Bo Horvat to restore a two-goal cushion heading into the intermission.
Neither side found the net in the second period, but the Ducks cut the deficit late in regulation. Alex Killorn beat Sorokin with a wrist shot at 17:20 of the third period, set up by Carlsson and Jackson LaCombe. Dostal retreated to the bench for an extra skater, but Anaheim could not produce an equalizer before the final horn.
Sorokin turned aside 15 of 17 shots to earn the victory for New York, while Dostal made 22 saves on 25 shots in the loss. The Islanders converted 1 of 4 opportunities on the power play, while Anaheim finished 0 for 2 with the man advantage and totaled 13 penalty minutes.
The victory pushed the Islanders to 5-3-1 on the season and extended their winning streak to two games. Anaheim fell to 4-5-0 and remains winless in four consecutive contests.
Anaheim visits the New Jersey Devils on Thursday at 7:00 PM ET. The Islanders remain at UBS Arena to host the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday at 7:30 PM ET.
