Islanders 6, Ducks 1: Make it six

6 months ago  /  Lighthouse Hockey

Gift accepted. | Photo by Nicole Vasquez/NHLI via Getty Images


The Isles keep a good thing going. The New York Islanders extended their win streak to six games with a mostly comfortable 6-1 win over the Ducks in Anaheim.
[NHL Gamecenter | Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick]
First Period: This is good
The game began exactly as needed for the Isles, as they looked to get themselves a not-too-hard-fought two points on the first night of a back-to-back.
A really nice forecheck by Simon Holmstrom won the puck in the corner so he could feed Casey Cizikas in the low slot. Cizikas stopped the pass with his skate and fired in one motion to open scoring at 5:11.


What a play by Holmstrom! pic.twitter.com/WZi8bDz9mq— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 11, 2024




They doubled their lead a couple of minutes later, with Kyle Palmieri doing really well to knock down an airborne breakaway from Mike Reilly that was headed toward his midsection.
That got Palmieri an uncontested breakaway, which gave him enough time to slip a slow-mo deke Lukas Dostal, who’d slid along with Palmieri. Radko Gudas hustled back and fell just short of stoppingthe puck before it slid over the line.


THE PRIDE OF LONG ISLAND, KYLE PALMIERI! pic.twitter.com/ezZknjgbq2— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 11, 2024




Shortly after their first power play of the game, the Isles got another one on a soft hooking call against Alex Killorn. Apparently Killorn complained enough about the call to earn an extra minor, which was great for the Isles, since it took them into the second half of the double-minor to convert.
Mathew Barzal made a great play along the boards to salvage something after receiving a bad pass. He chopped the puck against the boards, pulled it back for Brock Nelson, who slipped it to Bo Horvat, who sent it back to tee up Nelson for a beauty.


TIC, TAC, GOAL. pic.twitter.com/JEmjO0ej9y— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 11, 2024




Pretty.
That made it 3-0 at 14:28, which is how things stood at the first intermission. Semyon Varlamov faced only four shots...of course the Isles only registered six themselves, though the goals were each prime chances.
Second Period: This is passive.
The second period did not start the way the Isles would want. They had a scoring chance in the opening minute, but the rebound poked out to the top of the zone, where Adam Pelech missed the pinch and had to scramble to get back. Noah Dobson was skating back hard to cover for him, leaving Pelech caught a bit in between, which gave Killorn enough space to rifle a shot top shelf on Varlamov’s glove side.


Killer #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/mV6nHLgnUC— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) March 11, 2024




That got the Ducks on the board just 24 seconds into the period, and quickly shifted the game story from “could be a cakewalk?” to “might not be so easy.”
Indeed, the Isles kind of sleepwalked through most of the period, and didn’t register an official shot until their second power play, two thirds of the way through.
Just before the final minute, the top line looked to maybe just kill the period wih some offensive zone time, but they gave up a counterattack rush that required a good save by Varlamov under pressure. Thankfully the Cizikas line came on and finished the job, getting the Isles to the second intermission with a 3-1 lead intact.
Third Period: Finish the job.
Another early goal to open the third, thankfully by the Isles, with the top line combining to make it 4-1 just 34 seconds in. Barzal circled the net and found Nelson, who either partially fanned or brilliantly passed a slow one across the slot to Horvat, who stopped it, pulled it back and put it into a gaping net.
It was pretty steady from that point forward. The top line had another nice shift about seven minutes in, and they were succeeded by the Cizikas line, which regrouped and sprung Pierre Engvall. The speedster caught Gudas flat-footed near the Isles blueline and walked in alone to put a nice move on and make it 5-1.
Cal Clutterbuck completed scoring late in regulation to make it 6-1 and give the visiting Isles fans one more reason to celebrate their Sunday night.
Up Next
No rest, but ideally more points as the Isles are right back at it Monday night against the Kings. Then they’ll head back east and face the Sabres on Thursday. This is part of a busy nine games in 15 days, including three sets of back-to-backs.

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