"We've got to score some goals. We've got to find a way to score here," Capuano said. "It took us 40 minutes in New York [on Thursday], and just one power-play goal [Saturday] off (Brooks) Orpik's leg. We had chances, we've just got to find a way."
That includes the top line, which consisted of John Tavares, Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera for much of the first two games before Capuano had Josh Bailey replace Chimera late in the game Saturday. Tavares, who competed for Team Canada at the World Cup of Hockey 2016, did not arrive at Islanders training camp until the first week of October and played in one preseason game. He enters Sunday still looking for his first point of the season.
"They're a real good team," Capuano said of the Ducks. "They've got a lot of firepower. Again, we've got to find a way. I know [Tavares] came back from the World Cup late and we didn't have a lot of experimenting to do as far as line combinations go. We moved (Josh) Bailey up late in the game [Saturday] on that line, just to see if we could get anything going. But we're definitely going to have to … we can grind it out all we want, but when we get chances we've got to find a way to put the puck in the back of the net."
The Ducks are also seeking their first win of the season; they dropped their second straight with a 3-2 loss at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. They're hoping to avoid a repeat of last season, when they won once in their first 10 games (1-7-2).
"We haven't talked about last year at all," forward Corey Perry said Saturday. "This is a new beginning, a new season, and you have to go out and prove yourself all over again."
