Game Preview: Islanders vs Ducks

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (4-3-1) VS ANAHEIM DUCKS (4-4-0) 

7:00 P.M. | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS 

HOW TO WATCH/STREAM: MSGSN, MSG+ ON DAZN 

HOW TO LISTEN: 88.7 FM WRHU | 103.9FM LI NEWS | 92.5FM THE BEACON | ISLES + UBS ARENA APP 

The New York Islanders return to UBS Arena after taking three-of-four points on the road  for a matchup against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday at 7 p.m.  

The Isles have recorded at least one point in three consecutive games (2-0-1) and have at least one point in the standings in four of the last five contests.  

The Islanders beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 in their last game on Oct. 17 as Simon Holmström scored twice and Bo Horvat had two points (1G, 1A).  

The Islanders’ first meeting of the season with the Ducks is also the opener of two matchups against Pacific Division opponents this week as the Los Angeles Kings come to UBS Arena on Thursday.  

However, the Isles will be without Matias Maccelli and Cal Ritchie, who both sustained a lower-body injury against Toronto on Saturday. Maccelli will miss the next 2-4 weeks and Ritchie will be sidelined for the next 4-6 weeks.  

Read a full recap from Monday’s practice here.  

The Ducks enter the matchup on the second night of a back-to-back after losing 5-2 to the New York Rangers on Monday.  

After a 4-1-0 start, the Ducks dropped three straight games but have an exciting collection of young talent including leading point producer Leo Carlsson, 2026 Calder Trophy Finalist Beckett Sennecke and Olympic Gold Medalist Jackson LaCombe.

PROJECTED LINEUP 

The Isles lineup could feature two players making their season debut as Mitchell Chaffee – who was emergency recalled from Hamilton on Monday – and Kyle MacLean are expected to be featured on the fourth line with Casey Cizikas.   

Kyle Palmieri – who spent parts of the first five seasons of his NHL career with the Ducks – was back on the top line with Holmström and Horvat after starting with the fourth line in Toronto.  

Here’s how the Isles lined up during practice on Monday. Stay tuned for updates following Tuesday’s morning skate.  

Simon Holmström – Bo Horvat – Kyle Palmieri 
Emil Heineman – Brayden Schenn – Victor Eklund 
Ondřej Palát – JG Pageau – Anthony Duclair   
Kyle MacLean – Casey Cizikas – Mitchell Chaffee  

Logan Stanley – Matthew Schaefer   
Adam Pelech – Ryan Pulock   
Matthew Kessel – Tony DeAngelo  

Extra: Scott Mayfield

ISLES DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE CONTINUES 

The Islanders have continued to be a force defensively this season and have allowed the fewest goals in the Eastern Conference (17). That also stands second fewest in the NHL.  

The Isles have given up two goals or fewer in six of their eight games and have allowed nine of their 17 goals in 5-on-5 play, which is also second fewest in the NHL.  

The 17 goals against are the fewest number of tallies allowed in the Isles' first eight games of a season since 2001 (excluding the shootout winner against the Ottawa Senators).  

The Isles have the third-best goals allowed per game in the league at 2.13 and maintain the sixth-best penalty kill unit at 86.7 percent.  

Those figures are backed up by strong goaltending from Ilya Sorokin – who’s now second all-time in Isles history with 158 wins – and Semyon Varlamov who have combined for a .919 save percentage which is third-best in the NHL. 

Head Coach Pete DeBoer said his group has believed in the structure he and the staff implemented during training camp and it’s already paying dividends.  

“From day one at training camp we had buy-in,” DeBoer said. “It's been a process, it's not seamless, and there's still areas of improvement that we've got to clean up for sure. I like the fact that we're getting rewarded for that buy-in because from a coaching perspective, that's an important part that the guys see that we're getting results from what they're doing, which hopefully, snowballs and creates more buy-in.”

SCOUTING THE DUCKS

Goaltender Ville Husso gave up five goals in his start against the Rangers on Monday, indicating Lukas Dostal – who has a .882 save percentage and a 3.17 goals-against average – will likely start against the Islanders.  

Carlsson leads the Ducks with nine points (2G, 7A) following a wild summer as the Philadelphia Flyers gave him a 5-year, $90 million offer sheet which the Ducks matched. His $18 million AAV is currently the highest in the NHL.  

[Cale Makar’s $20.4 million AAV and Macklin Celebrini’s $18.8 million AAV contracts begin in 2027]

The Ducks remain without Troy Terry (right hip surgery) who had 19 goals and 38 assists last season. However, his production is being met by Sennecke (5G, 3A), Mikael Granlund (2G, 6A) and Cutter Gauthier (2G, 3A).  

LaCombe is a gifted two-way defenseman and headlines a blueline further cemented by Tristan Luneau’s six-year, $43.2 million contract extension which was signed just 14 games into his NHL career.