Islanders get the jump on Ducks

UNIONDALE, N.Y —  . -- The Ducks couldn’t recover from a bad start Wednesday night and helped the New York Islanders end a losing streak at eight games.

Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere gave up two first-period goals before being relieved by Jonas Hiller in a 2-1 loss to the Islanders, the Ducks’ second road defeat in as many nights.

“It’s just the way it went,” Giguere said. “Goalies can win and lose games for you in this league.”

New York won for the first time in 2009 after an 0-7-1 start.

“We had more than our fair share of chances,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “We only get one goal on a power play.”

Islanders goaltender Yann Danis made 39 saves.

For the first time in four games, the Islanders scored first.

It took only 2 minutes 38 seconds into the game during the Islanders’ first power play for Kyle Okposo to whistle a slap shot from the top of the left circle into the short side.

The Islanders made it 2-0 at 14:35 when rookie Kurtis McLean scored his first NHL goal, ripping a slap shot from the top of the right circle that beat Giguere between his pads.

At that point, a very upset Giguere was replaced by Hiller.

Anaheim dominated play in the second period, and got one back at 16:45 when Bobby Ryan tipped a puck past Danis.

“Corey [Perry] made the play,” Ryan said. “The only good thing I did was to get in front of the net.”

That gave Ryan goals in three straight games, and points in four. Ryan is tied for second in the NHL in rookie points with 30 on 15 goals and 15 assists.

The Islanders held on in the final period, despite being outshot, 9-1. New York had 14 shots in the game.

The only shot they registered was when they were killing a penalty, and Nate Thompson fired the puck down from his own zone and Hiller turned it aside.