ELMONT, N.Y. — There was no late magic that could have saved the Ducks this time around.
Anders Lee scored twice and had two assists, and David Rittich made 31 saves as the New York Islanders beat the Ducks, 5-2, on Thursday night.
Simon Holmstrom had a goal and two assists and defensemen Travis Mitchell and Ryan Pulock each scored as the Islanders won for the fifth time in six games.
Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry scored for the Ducks, who saw their three-game winning streak snapped two nights after a dramatic last-second goal from Beckett Sennecke propelled them to a shootout victory over the Penguins in Pittsburgh. Ducks goaltender Ville Husso made 32 saves.
Islanders leading scorer Bo Horvat left about seven minutes into the second period with a lower-body injury after he became tangled with Ducks defenseman Drew Helleson. Horvat, who has 31 points (19 goals, 12 assists), immediately exited the ice and the Islanders announced he was done for the night just before the third period.
The Islanders scored three times on just nine shots during an 11-minute span in the first, starting with Mitchell’s first NHL goal at the 8:18 mark. The 26-year-old, who was playing his seventh game following his recall from Bridgeport of the AHL, was in the right place at the right time. Scott Mayfield’s shot glanced off the boards to the right of Husso but caromed around the Ducks’ net and to Mitchell, who buried the rebound past a sprawling Husso.
Lee scored on a power play just 1:58 later, when he redirected Tony DeAngelo’s shot from the high slot.
Lee and DeAngelo hooked up again on the power play with 54 seconds left in the period. Another shot from the slot by DeAngelo glanced off Husso before Lee tucked home the rebound past Husso’s glove for his eighth goal of the season. The Islanders captain has 297 career goals, the fifth-most in franchise history.
The Ducks answered with a power play goal 5:34 into the second. Terry fed a drop pass to Carlsson, who moved into the left faceoff circle before firing a shot that sailed past Rittich into the far corner of the net for his team-leading 17th goal.
Terry pulled the Ducks within a goal by scoring a short-handed goal 2:37 into the third, but Holmstrom gave the hosts a two-goal cushion again less than four minutes later. Pulock scored his first goal of the season with 5:14 left to finish the scoring.
The Islanders are 14-6-2 in their last 22 games and have remained strong against top-tier competition since losing to the Washington Capitals on Nov. 30. New York has since defeated Tampa Bay twice, plus Colorado and Vegas.
Rittich improved to 7-3-1 with a sharp performance against the improved Ducks, who have 19 wins in 31 games.
More to come on this story.
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The Ducks play at New Jersey on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. PT.