ANAHEIM –– The Ducks played one of their most complete games of the campaign, flogging the New York Islanders, 4-1, at Honda Center on Sunday evening in a contest where they scored a goal in each period before adding an empty-netter.
Mason McTavish tallied in the third and, in the first, he set up Sam Colangelo, who later scored again into the vacated cage. Drew Helleson struck in the middle frame. Seven different Ducks 23 or under recorded a point Sunday. Lukáš Dostál stopped 32 of 33 shots, and he was just 4:50 away from his second shutout of the season.
Tony DeAngelo scored the Isles’ lone goal. Marcus Hogborg made 23 saves for New York.
The Islanders entered the game having won four of their past five games, including Saturday’s 4-2 victory in San Jose. But their muffled offense and less-than-optimal legs were no match Sunday for the Ducks, who nipped a two-game slump in the bud and moved seven points back of idle Calgary for the last available playoff spot in the West.
In the final frame, the Ducks slammed the door, getting a goal from McTavish in the first minute and a cake-icing marker by Colangelo 8:18 into the frame, an absurdly early time for an empty-netter. Islanders coach and Hall-of-Fame netminder Patrick Roy became an innovator in Colorado, starting the trend of pulling his goalie early, but this seemed unconventional even for him.
McTavish’s 17th goal of the campaign was a power-play snipe from the inner part of the left circle, giving the Ducks a man-advantage marker in consecutive games. McTavish has been the Ducks’ leading scorer since Jan. 6, stacking up 21 points in 24 games after starting the year with 16 points in 33 appearances.
The second stanza settled into a game more to the Islanders’ liking, a low-event affair with a measured pace, initially. Before the second intermission, however, the Ducks found not only their stride but a goal that put them up 2-0 through 40 minutes.
After a won offensive-zone faceoff, the Ducks moved the puck from low-to-high, where it located Helleson for a shot from the nook between the right-wing wall and the offensive blue line. His third goal of 2024-25 was very similar to his second, which he scored on Dec. 29 in a win over Edmonton.
Close calls abounded early, as the Ducks capitalized on the fact that the Islanders were on a back-to-back, pushing tempo and generating plenty off the rush, as well as from prime areas.
Frank Vatrano’s one-timer off the rush and Olen Zellweger’s activation of a break keyed by Trevor Zegras. Zegras would have the most exciting play of the first period when he nearly scored a lacrosse-style goal, his “Michigan” attempt being narrowly cast aside by Hogborg’s shoulder.
The hosts would break through, with 2:08 left, thanks to some brilliant puck movement. Pavel Mintyukov pushed the puck up the boards for Colangelo, who touched it on to McTavish before getting inside of Isles defenseman Noah Dobson. McTavish delivered a whirling backhand pass across the ice for Cutter Gauthier, who found the unmarked Colangelo. It was the rookie’s fifth goal of the season but his fourth in his past four games, extending his goal streak to four matches.