Coming off a win against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the New York Islanders were back at home hoping to beat an Anaheim Ducks team in the second half of New York back-to-back.
Following some unfortunate news regarding two key players, Matias Maccelli and Cal Ritchie, who will both be out for a while, it was a new-look Islanders team.
Despite some new faces in the lineup, the offense for the Islanders looked great early on. New York controlled possession and the opportunities, and they had a three-goal first period.
Even though there were no goals scored in the first 10 minutes of the period, the Islanders got hot offensively and scored in bunches. To kick things off, it was Ondrej Palat with his second of the year, with assists going to J.G. Pageau and Anthony Duclair.
That goal was followed up by the youngster Victor Eklund getting his second of the season. On his goal, the assists went to Emil Heineman and Matthew Kessel. Even though Kessel hasn’t been in the lineup a ton, it was his second assist of the season already.
Unfortunately, the Islanders not being able to get the puck out of their zone resulted in the Ducks getting one back on a Frank Vatrano goal. However, it didn’t take long for New York to strike back. On the power play, Matthew Schaefer took a wrister from the top, and Simon Holmstrom was able to redirect it in for his fourth of the year.
Things Settle Down
While there were some opportunities for both teams in the second period, it was ultimately a scoreless one for both teams following the flurry of goals in the first.
The action and pace remained good in the third period, but once again there was a lack of scoring. However, for the Islanders playing with a two-goal lead, that wasn't a bad thing. Later in the period, the Ducks would pull their goalie trailing by two and it was Alex Killhorn with the extra attacker who was able to rip a shot past Ilya Sorokin to make it a 3-2 game with about 2:30 to play. New York was able to avoid giving up another goal late and came away with a win.
Throughout the game, the Islanders were very strong at even strength in this one. With the lines being switched up and moved around with key players out, it was encouraging to see the high level of production at even strength.
Next up for the Islanders will be another game against a West Coast opponent, with the Los Angeles Kings coming to town.
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