Takeaways: Isles Beat Ducks 3-2, Win Second Straight Game

Simon Holmström scored on the power play for his third goal over the last two games, and the New York Islanders beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 at UBS Arena on Tuesday night.  

Ondřej Palát opened the scoring and Victor Eklund added his second tally of the season 2:49 later as part of a three-goal first period from the Isles. Palát, Eklund and Holmström scored 5:05 apart to close the opening stanza.  

Anaheim’s Frank Vatrano scored his second of the season to make it 2-1 in the first period and Alex Killorn cut the Ducks deficit to 3-2 with 2:40 remaining in the third period.  

Tuesday marked the Isles second straight win – their first winning streak of the season – and theIslanders extended their point streak to four games (3-0-1).  

The Islanders are 5-0-1 when scoring first and 5-1-0 when scoring at least three goals. The Isles have allowed two goals or fewer in seven of their first nine games. 

Nine different Islanders got on the scoresheet including Matthew Schaefer, who recorded his eighth assist of the year on Holmstrom’s tip-in goal. Schaefer has a point in all five home games with seven of his eight points coming at UBS Arena.  

Bo Horvat added an assist and the Isles captain has 10 points (5G, 5A) through nine games. Defenseman Matt Kessel added his second assist in four games and the Islanders posted a 20-4 mark in corsi attempts (shots on goal + missed shots + blocked shots) over the Ducks when Kessel was on the ice at 5-on-5 according to Natural Stat Trick.  

Ilya Sorokin made his 309th career start which tied Rick DiPietro for the second-most in Islanders history. Sorokin made 15 saves in his fifth win of the season and he's given up two goals or less in six of his seven starts.  

The Isles special teams shined once again as the Islanders killed off both penalties. The Isles have fended off nine straight penalties over their last three games and are 25-for-28 on the penalty kill over the last eight games.  

The Islanders have a special teams goal in six of their nine games this season – five power play goals and two shorthanded goals.  

The Islanders improved their record to 5-3-1 with the win and are in third place in the Metropolitan Division.

Blistering Start Powers Isles To Win 

The Islanders put together a dominant opening period in the win over Anaheim as nine different Isles recorded a point in the stanza.  

The Islanders had 17 scoring chances and eight high-danger chances in the first period at 5-on-5 according to Natural Stat Trick. The Isles out chanced the Ducks 17-6 and out shot them 13-6 in the first stanza.  

The Isles have scored seven first period goals over the last three games after only scoring one first period goal in their first five games.  

The game seemingly had a tilt in the ice until Holmström opened the scoring for the Isles and it was a tally that Head Coach Pete DeBoer described as a pivotal difference maker.  

“We had a team that we knew was playing back-to-back, and we knew that’s part of our responsibility being the pressure team is to come out and jump on them,” DeBoer said. “That first goal was huge. We came out, I liked our first period, but the first goal really probably sets the tone for the next 20 or 30 minutes of that game so that was a big goal for us.” 

The Islanders also controlled possession in the first period, predicated off a 14-for-22 clip at the faceoff dot. The Isles won nearly 60 percent of faceoffs over the course of the game.  

The Isles erased the Ducks opportunities in transition, nullifying an elite team off the rush.

Eklund said the hot start comprised of a complete 200-foot game was ignited because of the Isles overall confidence. Palát resembled Eklund’s message and said a key focus against the Ducks was backchecking hard to fend off opportunities potentially created by Anaheim’s effective puck moving defensemen in Tristan Luneau and Jackson LaCombe.  

“We need to reload,” Palát said. “The D in the league are too good to leave them alone so anytime we lose the puck in their zone, we need to make it hard for them so they can feel the back pressure.” 

They also won numerous puck battles in the early going off the forecheck including an offensive zone opportunity along the wall in the corner with Eklund and Kessel involved. The puck was won back to Emil Heineman at the point and Eklund sprinted to the net mouth where he banged the rebound into the yawning cage.  

“I'm just always trying to get in front, get in the heat,” Eklund said. “It worked out this time so yeah, should maybe go to the net more.”  more. 

DeBoer said Eklund’s defensive identity is what roots his game and he showed why the little details of his game can add up to key results against the Ducks.  

“I thought it was probably his best game in a couple weeks here,” DeBoer said of Eklund. “...I thought he was all over the ice. I think his habits are really good naturally. I think he's got a defensive conscience to his game naturally that he showed up here with and you combine that with he's a really smart kid and he's picked up the details of what we want to do fairly quickly. He's not a guy that's going to cheat the game for offense. He'll take his offensive opportunities when they're there but he's got a real good defensive conscience when he's on the ice which is really rare for a young guy.”

MacLean, Chaffee Bring Physical Style in Season Debuts 

After being recalled from the Hamilton Hammers (AHL) on Monday, it didn’t take long for Mitchell Chaffee to make an impact. 

After he crunched Vatrano along the wall by the Ducks bench, Chaffee answered the bell rung by AJ Greer who stands 6-foot-3, 224-pounds.  

Chaffee didn’t cave and stood in against Greer for the former’s second career fight in an NHL regular season game.  

“When you're going around hitting guys too, that’s gonna happen,” Chaffee said of the scrap. “He kept asking me to go so you got to do what you got to do.” 

Chaffee played alongside Casey Cizikas and Kyle MacLean, who made his season debut.  

The trio generated three scoring chances 5-on-5, and Chaffee said they played a “suffocating” style which included holding onto pucks low in the offensive zone. Chaffee added he felt his line got into a rhythm as the game went on, and that was evident as MacLean matched his single game career-high with five hits.  

“They did a great job,” DeBoer said of Chaffee and MacLean. “I didn't have to hide them. They had some shifts against the big guys. I thought they gave us energy, they gave us some physicality. Some really good puck possession shifts, especially in the third period. When you're up in a game like that, the best defense is ozone time and just a little bit of grind in your game and I thought they did a good job of that.” 

Next Game  

The Islanders return to UBS Arena for another Pacific Division matchup against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. Faceoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+ and Hulu.