Rittich makes 19 saves, Islanders defeat Kraken in double shutout

ELMONT, N.Y. -- David Rittich made 19 saves, and Kyle Palmieri scored in the fourth round of the shootout to give the New York Islanders a 1-0 win against the Seattle Kraken at UBS Arena on Sunday.

Palmieri beat Joey Daccord glove side on a forehand-to-backhand move.

“Both goalies played well,” Palmieri said. “Both made some big saves. You don't see too many of those headed all the way to the shootout. So credit to both goalies. Rittich gave us a chance, and we were lucky, lucky enough to come through for him in the shootout.

It was Rittich’s first shutout of the season and eighth in the NHL, and Daccord’s second this season and seventh of his career.

“We’ve been playing really well,” Rittich said. “They had 19 shots, so that tells you a lot about how much of the work the guys in front of me did. So a lot of block shots, a lot of effort defensively, to cover the players -- power plays -- that kind of stuff. We’re playing really good hockey. Now we just want to keep doing that, enjoy that moment for now, and just work hard and get another one.”

The Islanders (13-8-2), who were coming off a 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, have won seven of nine (7-2-0).

“I thought we were very good on both sides of the ice,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “We didn't give them many chances, and when we gave up some, Rittich was outstanding out there. I thought it was a great team effort on the back to back, tough schedule and everything. And we talked about it before the game. We don't want to lose two in a row, and it was important to come with a solid performance like this one.”

Daccord made 34 saves for the Kraken (11-5-6), who were coming off a 3-2 overtime win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday and had won four of their past five.

Seattle finished 2-1-1 on its four-game road trip.

“There's that Detroit game. There are some things we didn't like, of course, but I think we adapted pretty well after that,” forward Frederick Gaudreau said of the trip. “We showed a lot of character from the previous two games coming back in the third, and today, again, back to back, everybody stayed in it, everybody stayed focused. Everybody wanted it, you could see it. Those are not easy games, but we found a way to stay in the game. We got a point out of this. So it’s a good trip.”

Rittich got his right pad down at 11:17 of the first period to deny Matty Beniers on a breakaway.

Daccord slid out to the top of the crease to stop a point-blank attempt from Anders Lee at 17:19 after Mathew Barzal found him alone in the slot.

Daccord then denied Barzal at the glove-side post off a feed from Bo Horvat at 13:20 of the second period.

Through two periods, the Islanders doubled up the Kraken in shots, 20-10.

Rittich stopped Jaden Schwartz's wrist shot at 18:21 of the third period, deflecting the puck with his right shoulder.

“We didn’t score any goals. We didn’t find a way to capitalize,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “Of course, neither did they. I thought our goalie was really good. I thought their goalie made some good saves as well. But, it’s just a common theme right now, shot volume or lack thereof, and I know we passed up too many shots again, so at some point, we've got to figure this out.”

NOTES: The Islanders recorded a shutout in a shootout win for the third time in franchise history (Feb. 7, 2012, against the Philadelphia Flyers, and Nov. 24, 2014, against the Flyers). … Ryan Pulock’s shot at 16:52 of the first period clocked in at 103.01 mph, the second-fastest this season, behind Morgan Geekie (103.03 mph on Nov. 11). Pulock’s shot was also the fastest by an Islanders skater since NHL EDGE data began being tracked in 2021-22 (regular season or playoffs), surpassing his own previous mark of 102.74 mph that he set during Game 4 of the 2024 Eastern Conference First Round.