Ducks Rally, But Fall Short

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks continued their road trip in New York against the Islanders. Ville Husso was in net against David Rittich. The Ducks rolled with the same lineup once again.

The Islanders started the scoring with a goal by Travis Mitchell. A slap shot went wide, hit the boards and then came to Mitchell at the other side of the net.

New York went on the power play and scored to make it a 2-0 lead. Anders Lee redirected a shot past Husso about halfway through the first period.

The Islanders scored again on the power play to make it a 3-0 contest with about a minute to go in the opening period. Lee got to a rebound and put it past Husso.

Leo Carlsson got the Ducks on the board in the second period. During 4-on-4 play he beat Rittich glove side form the left circle right after winning a face-off.

The Ducks were shorthanded early in the third period, but Troy Terry scored to pull Anaheim within one goal. Ryan Poehling got Terry the puck on the a rush and he beat Rittich five-hole in front for the score.

A few minutes later Simon Holmstom beat Olen Zellweger was beat one-on-one and Holmstrom cut across the slot scoring on a backhand shot.

Ryan Pulock then made it a 5-2 game with just over five minutes to go. A shot wide went and came to him along the boards. He took a wrist shot which deflected off of Chris Kreider‘s stick and over Husso’s glove.

The Ducks pulled Husso with over three minutes go, but couldn’t score again.

Analysis:

The Ducks down early and often in his contest. The Islanders put up three goals in the first period to take an early 3-0 lead. Anaheim fought back getting a goal in the second period and then a shorthanded goal early in the third period. Anaheim pulled within one, but New York responded with two goals to make it a three goal deficit again. The Ducks pulled their goalie with more than three minutes to go, but couldn’t get any closer and lost 5-2.

Anaheim played better in this contest than they did against Pittsburgh at even strength. The Ducks posted a CF% of 58.14%f and a FF% of 56.57%. Anaheim put up 75 shot attempts to 54 for New York at even strength. The Islanders ended up more shots on goal with 37 to 33 for the Ducks.

The special teams played a big factor in this contest especially early on. The Ducks were called for two penalties in the first period and the Islanders scored on both man advantages. Anaheim was called for four penalties total and still need to work on avoiding those unnecessary penalties. They did get one goal while shorthanded. The Islanders went 2-for-4 on the power play and the Ducks went 0-for-1.

Anaheim had trouble containing Lee as he scored twice in the first period on both power plays. He also assisted on both of New York’s goals in the third period. He almost had a hat trick especially when the Ducks pulled their goalie.

Despite being down 3-0 the Ducks did fight back as they never say die this season. They do need to play more discipline, get better on the penalty kill, and limit their turnovers. They also didn’t have much puck luck in this contest as the Islanders scored twice on two shots which completely missed the net, but then bounced to a teammate on the opposite of the net.

Team Notes/Stats:

The Ducks are 10-1-0 when they score first.

Anaheim is 9-10-1 when the opponents score first.

What’s Next?

The Ducks play the Devils in New Jersey at 9:30 AM on Saturday.

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December 12th, 2025