Poor start dooms Ducks in blowout loss to red-hot Islanders
Kyle Palmieri reached the 20-goal mark for the sixth time in his career, Bo Horvat extended his goal streak to three games, and the New York Islanders moved into a playoff position with their sixth straight win, a 6-1 rout of the Ducks on Sunday night.
The Islanders scored three times in the first period, including Palmieri on a breakaway 7:28 into the game. New York has outscored opponents 11-0 in the first 20 minutes during its winning streak.
It was the second time this season the Ducks have allowed at least three goals in the first period in two straight games.
“Sometimes you take these game for granted, and that’s not what our guys didn’t do,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “We were ready for them. We played a good game and jumped on them early.”
The Ducks give up three power-play goals and goaltender John Gibson struggles in a 6-2 loss to a Dallas Stars team that has won four straight games.
The top line of Horvat, Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal combined for six points as the Islanders moved into the Eastern Conference’s second and final wild card after being seven points back two weeks ago. Detroit and New York both have 74 points, but the Islanders have one game in hand.
Horvat and Nelson each had a goal and an assist while Brazal had two assists. Casey Cizikas, Pierre Engvall and Cal Clutterbuck also found the net for New York. All but six of the Islanders’ 18 skaters ended up getting on the score sheet.
“All four lines are playing well. The defensemen are moving the puck fast, and it’s what’s making us successful. We’ve just got to continue to do that,” Palmieri said.
Semyon Varlamov stopped 22 shots to pick up his first win in net since Dec. 13, also against the Ducks.
Ducks forward Alex Killorn extended his goal streak to four games during the second period. Lukas Dostal made 13 saves for the Ducks, who have dropped three of four and been outscored 12-3 in the last two.
“When it goes sideways, that’s when things get crazy for us, and we leave our goalies hanging out to dry,” defenseman Cam Fowler said. “That’s something we’ll try to continue to manage moving forward, but it has to be a lot better. It’s something that can’t happen.”
Palmieri’s goal came two minutes after Cizikas opened the scoring. Palmieri got behind the Ducks’ defense, took a stretch pass from Mike Reilly and trickled in a backhand with a move to his right hand as Dostal was going the other way.
It is the first time the Long Island native has reached 20 goals since 2019-20, when he was with the New Jersey Devils.
Alex Killorn scored the tiebreaking goal and Lukas Dostal made 29 saves during the rebuilding Ducks’ win over the Senators on Wednesday in Anaheim.
Nelson’s wrist shot on the power play — his team-leading 29th goal — gave the Islanders three goals on their first seven shots.
Killorn’s wrist shot from the edge of the left faceoff circle 24 seconds into the second period made him the second player with a four-game goal streak in his first season with the Ducks. Bill Houlder did it during the franchise’s first season in 1993-94.
Horvat extended his streak 34 seconds into the third, followed by Engvall’s breakaway seven minutes later.
Up next for the Ducks: Open a four-game road trip against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
