ELMONT, NY — The New York Islanders began a back-to-back set Tuesday, hosting the Anaheim Ducks before Wednesday’s game against the Blue Jackets in Columbus.
Incredibly, the Isles outshot the Ducks 42-22, however came up short, losing 3-1.
© Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
New York came out strong in the first, but Anaheim settled things down and went to the power play on a Pierre Engvall holding penalty. In the back half of the penalty kill, Mason McTavish sent a pass back high to Frank Vatrano, settled on the right side. Vatrano let a shot go that was tipped by Leo Carlsson past Ilya Sorokin, giving Anaheim a 1-0 lead at 14:05 of the first.
The Islanders outshot the Ducks 13-9 in the period but trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes. Anaheim had only one more turnover than New York in the frame, leading 8-7, and had four takeaways to the Islanders’ two.
Special teams continued for the Islanders in the second period, with New York going 0-for-2 on the power play. With seven minutes to go in the frame, Engvall took his second penalty of the night, and Anaheim once again made the Islanders pay.
After Olen Zellweger stopped the puck on a dive at left point, he sent it down to McTavish along the wall. After a drive to the net, he crossed it to Troy Terry, who tapped the puck home to make it 2-0 at 14:06 of the second.
The goal was Terry’s 100th of his NHL career, becoming the 11th player in Ducks history to reach the century mark with the club. The goal also extended his point streak to eight games, totaling five goals and three assists in that span.
Despite outshooting the Ducks 11-7, the Islanders trailed 2-0 after 40 minutes of play. The Islanders gave the puck away four time to Anaheim’s three, with each team forcing a takeaway.
3:29 into the third, the Islanders got a prime chance when Frank Vatrano was called for tripping. Then Robert Fabbri was called high sticking 4:08 giving the Isles a 5-on-3 power play.
Finally, with 5:31 into the third period, and two seconds after the Vatrano penalty expired, Mat Barzal deposited a one-time, power play goal, cutting the Ducks lead to 2-1. Bo Horvat and Noah Dobson picked up assists.
Maxim Tsyplakov was called for hooking 9:02 into the third frame but the home team successfully killed it off.
Incredibly, with eight minutes remaining, the Islanders led 38-18 in shots, yet were still behind on the scoreboard, 2-1.
The Islanders continued to push, and with 1:56 remaining Sorokin went to the bench for the extra skater.
But a loose puck bounced off Brock Nelson and to Vatrano, who scored the empty netter from center ice with :59 seconds remaining to give the Ducks a 3-1 win.
The Islanders travel to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets tomorrow at 7 PM.
