Gauthier scores twice, Husso makes 42 saves in Ducks victory against Islanders

ANAHEIM -- Cutter Gauthier scored twice, and Ville Husso made 42 saves in his first game since Jan. 26 to help the Anaheim Ducks defeat the New York Islanders 5-1 at Honda Center on Wednesday.

Beckett Sennecke had a goal and an assist, and Chris Kreider had two assists for the Ducks (34-24-3), who were coming off a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday that ended a five-game winning streak.

“When you score five goals in the game, you should win, and I think we played a pretty good game overall," Husso said. "Very, very big team win.”

Anders Lee scored for a fourth straight game, and David Rittich made 21 saves for the Islanders (35-22-5), whose five-game winning streak ended in the opener of a four-game road trip.

"We had 40-something shots on net," New York coach Patrick Roy said. "Maybe we could have done a little bit better job getting in front of those, taking the goalie's eyes away from the puck and that would have helped, but overall [the Ducks] played a good game."

Anaheim gave up the first goal for the fifth straight game when Lee scored on a rebound after Husso had saved his tip attempt, giving New York a 1-0 lead at 4:58 of the first period.

The Ducks were on a power play when Sennecke made a pass from behind the Islanders net to Gauthier in the left face-off circle and he scored with a one-timer to the far side to tie it 1-1 at 12:56.

Gauthier then gave the Ducks a 2-1 lead at 16:05. He scored his Anaheim-leading 31st goal of the season with a one-timer from the right circle off a feed from Leo Carlsson.

“He has an amazing shot and he’s going to score almost every time he gets those opportunities," Carlsson said. "My job is more to have a lot of speed in the middle and feed him."

It was the fifth goal in three games and eighth goal in seven games for Gauthier. It also was his fifth straight goal for the Ducks, making him the first player in team history to accomplish that feat.

"Thankfully they're going in," Gauthier said. "The main thing with my offense is getting pucks to the net."

Anaheim extended the lead to 3-1 at 18:40 when Sennecke one-timed a rebound from the left side for his 20th goal of the season.

Ryan Poehling pushed it to 4-1 at 2:11 of the third period, sliding the puck over the goal line with a backhand from in close, before Frank Vatrano scored into an empty net with 4:11 remaining for the 5-1 final.

"They play well defensively and they forecheck well," Roy said of the Ducks. "I think that's exactly what our team needs." 

The Islanders, who had won their past three games after trailing by at least two goals in each, could not take advantage of three power plays in the second period.

"I think we could have been a little bit better in our D-zone. They had a lot of easy access," New York defenseman Matthew Schaefer said. "I think it was pretty easy for them to get in our zone, so I think we've got to be better in our systems there. I think we can just be a better team in general."

NOTES: New York defenseman Ryan Pulock missed the game with an upper-body injury sustained in a 5-4 win against the Florida Panthers on Sunday. ... Adam Pelech played his 622nd game for the Islanders, tying Stefan Persson for the second most by a defenseman in team history. ... Vatrano played for the first time since fracturing his shoulder against the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 27. ... Forward Ryan Strome entered the Ducks lineup for the first time since Jan. 26 and assisted on Poehling's goal. ... Sennecke (51 points) became the first NHL rookie to reach 50 points this season and the fastest rookie to hit the mark in Anaheim history (61 games), besting the mark set by Bobby Ryan (69 games). ... The Ducks are 19-0-0 when leading after the second period.